BUCIIAN’G'A ATEA. 
387 
are usually about the size of the above noticed Bebar example. I notice that in some instances the young of conti- 
nental birds have a great deal of white near the edge of the under wing ; but in this respect Ceylonese examples 
vary too, though apparently not quite to the same extent as the former. 
Distribution .— Drongo has a very singular distribution in Ceylon, which, as m the case of the Ecd- 
legged Partridge, leaves the impression that it had found its wmy, at some remote j o i® an , an , no 
liking it, had determined not to continue its explorations much beyond the point of its arrival . It is con iner 
to the Jaffna peninsula and the north-west coast, down as far south as Piittalam, perhaps occurring as a 
straggler about Colombo^ though it is certainly not resident there. I never saw it anyw ere on ' 
south of the above-mentioned town, though I searched most diligently for it at Chi aw, a oca i y w^ * ^ 
prepared to find it in, as the conditions of climate and vegetation are those of the more uort lern par s n ^ 
frequents. Layard writes of it : — “ D. minor is common about Colombo, frequenting natives „ar e^. 
is the habit of B. leucopygialis, and there must have therefore been a wrong identification here. r. ’ 
worth says, “ it is also found about Colombo, but by no means commonly within my experience. o 
mens were procured by him there as I understand, and it is possible that the above-mentioned ir may av e 
been mistaken for it. Others have been on the look-out for it for years past, but have not yet seen it in 
Colombo district ; and this is, therefore, one of the points in the island distribution of this bird w ic requires 
settling. There is no reason why it should not stray down the coast to Colombo ; and if Mr. Ho swor i 
identification of the bird at large were correct, it was most likely as a wanderer to the distiict that it ® 
appearance there. It does not seem to pass down the cast coast at all. I have seen it near Elephant s ass, 
but did not meet with it on the sea-board south of that, though it may occur at MuUaitivu. In t c is an 
of Manaar, on the open plains near Salavatori and to the north of Mantottc, it is very common, ut it oes 
not appear to take to the paddy-lauds of the interior. n i f 
On the continent, the “ Common King-Crow ” is found, according to Jerdon, throughout tew o ® ® 
India, extending through Assam aud Burmah into China, and is to be met with in every part o t le coun rj , 
except where there is dense and lofty jungle. Commencing at the north-western limit of this wi e 
find that Mr. Ball observed it on the lower parts of the Suliman hills, and Mr. Hume procuie it m in , 
Captain Pinwill collected it in the N.W. Himalayas ; Dr. Hinde at Kamptee ; Messrs. Adam an u er ®P®^^ 
of it as common in the Sanibhur-Lake district and in Northern Guzerat, though it is scar^, accor g 
the latter gentleman, in the Mount-Aboo range. It is “very abundant in Chota Nagpur ( 
further south, in the Deccan and the Carnatic. Mr. Fairbank found it common at the base o c 
and on the plains, but not at any elevation on the hills themselves. It is spread throughout t le coim y ^ 
the south of this district as far as the island of Ramisserum. Turning to the north-east again, we rac 
through north-eastern Cachar, where it is “extremely common'” {Inglis) to Buimah, m ''' ^ 
Mr. Oates says that for many months of the year it is very abundant, being rare, ho wevei , rom ^ . 
September. He did not see it on the Pegu hills. In Tenasserim Mr. Hume writes that R oes no occur 
the Sittang. South of Moulmein it is not rare, and it extends to thePakchan river^ q -^1001111 
w'hich forms the eastern limit of its range, namely China, Mr. Swinhoe writes (P. . • ) ® 
throughout it, including the peninsula of Hainan and the island of Formosa ; sout war 1 ex en 
and thence across to Java, where it is the Edolius longus of Temminck. 
and 
Habits . — In Ceylon this Drongo frequents open 
lands, tobacco- and pasture-fields, bushy plains, 
scattered thorny jungle on the outskirts of the latter. It is, like the rest of bungalows in 
frenuentlv to be seen sittinsr nuietlv on the backs of cattle or on e ops 
frequently to be seen sitting quietly 
long chase occurs 
Jaffna, until a passing beetle attracts its notice, and it darts sudden y a ^ ^y^tch again 
and w'hcn the hapless inseet is captured, it is dispatched on t e neaies ^ ^ . 
commences. It often alights on low eminences on the grounc , sue “ ^ q generally alights on a 
and when frightened from this flies along close to the earth with - J in scattered 
fence or W buslr. It U usruOly eoliur, or food eomiste of Coleo„ter», grace, 
company j but m close company I have not notic • P 
hoppers, winged termites, of which it is very fond, and ticks, wnicn ^ ^ ^ 
