Part 39 (1/2)

They seem to be always right up in the angle of the fork, whereas in _Chaptia_ they are often some inches down the fork, and consequently the cavity is triangular on the one side, and semicircular on the other. The cavities measure from 3 to nearly 4 inches in their greatest diameters, and vary from 1 to 1 inch in depth; though strong and firm, and fully of an inch thick at bottom, the materials are so put together that, held up against the light, they look like a fine network.

The eggs of this species obtained by Mr. Gammie, though more elongated in shape and somewhat larger, very closely resemble in coloration the more ordinary type of the eggs of _Dicrurus longicaudatus_. In shape they are elongated ovals, a good deal compressed towards the smaller end. The sh.e.l.l is fine, but has scarcely any gloss. The ground-colour is a moderately warm salmon-pink. It is spotted, streaked, and blotched thickly about the large end (where there is a tendency to form a cap or zone), thinly elsewhere, with somewhat brownish red, or in some merely a darker shade of the ground-colour; where the markings are thickest about the large end, in some only one or two, in others numerous blotches and clouds of a dull inky purple are intermingled, and a few specks and spots of the same colour often occur elsewhere about the egg.

Two eggs measure 109 by 075, and a third measures 098 by 075.

340. Dissemurus paradiseus (Linn.). _The Larger Racket-tailed Drongo_.

Edolius paradiseus (_L.), Jerd. B. Ind._ i, p. 435.

Edolius inalabaricus (_Scop.), Jerd. t.c._ p. 437.

Dissemurus malabaroides (_Hodgs.), Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 284.

Of the Larger Racket-tailed Drongo Dr. Jerdon tells us that he has ”had its nest brought him several times at Darjeeling; rather a large structure of twigs and roots; and the eggs, usually three in number, pinkish white, with claret-coloured or purple spots, but they vary a great deal in size, form, and colouring. They breed in April and May.”

The solitary egg that I possess of this species, given me by Dr.

Jerdon, is probably an exceptionally small one. It is a broad oval, tapering a good deal towards one end, a good deal smaller than the eggs of _Chibia hottentotta_, and not very much larger than some eggs of _D. ater_. Its coloration, however, resembles that of _Chibia hottentotta_, and differs conspicuously, _when compared with them_ (though it may be difficult to make this apparent by description), from those of the true _Dicruri_. The ground-colour is a dead white, and it is very thinly speckled all over, a little more thickly towards the large end, with minute dots and spots, chiefly of a very pale inky purple, a very few only of the spots being a dark inky purple. The texture of the egg is fine and close, but it is devoid of gloss. This egg measures 11 by 087 inch.

Mr. Iver Macpherson writes from Mysore:--

”_Kakencotte State Forest, Mysore District_.--I send you six eggs, specimens from three different nests.

”This bird is very common in the heavy forests of the Mysore District, but the only nest I have ever found myself was on the 2nd May, 1880, and contained two or three young birds. I could not distinctly see how many. The nest was fixed towards the end of a branch of a tree, at a considerable height from the ground, and was almost impossible to get at. Had there been eggs in it I could not have taken them.

”The breeding-season I should say was from the beginning of April to the end of May.

”Three nests, each containing three eggs, were brought to me this season on the 10th and 26th April, and 9th May, 1880, by Cooroobahs (the jungle-tribes in these forests); and although the eggs in each nest vary considerably from one another, there is no doubt in my mind that the eggs belong to one and the same species of bird.

”It is a bird so well known in these forests that it would be impossible to mistake it for any other.

”In one case only was the nest brought to me, and this, which unfortunately I did not keep, was loosely made of twigs and roots.”

Professor H. Littledale, quoting Mr. J. Davidson, informs us that this species breeds in the east of G.o.dhra, and therefore probably throughout the Panch Mehals.

Mr. J. Inglis, writing from Cachar, says:--”The Bhimraj is very common, frequenting thick jungle; it often goes in company with other birds, which it mimics to perfection. It lays about four eggs in a shallow nest made of gra.s.s similar to the above; it is very easily tamed. The hill-tribes use the long tail-feathers for ornamenting their head-dresses.”

Mr. Oates writes from Pegu:--”I have taken the eggs of this species on all dates, from the 30th April to the 16th June.

”The nest is placed in forks of the outer branches of trees at all heights from 20 to 70 feet, and in all cases they are very difficult to take without breaking the eggs.

”The nest is a cradle, and the whole of it lies below the fork to which it is attached. It is made entirely of small branches of weeds and creepers, finer as they approach the interior. The egg-cup is generally, but not always, lined with dry gra.s.s.

”The outside dimensions are 6 inches in diameter and 3 deep. The interior measures 4 inches by 2. In one nest the sides are bound to the fork by cotton thread in addition to the usual weeds and creepers.

”The eggs have very little or no gloss, and differ among themselves a good deal in colour. In one clutch the ground-colour is white, spotted and blotched, not very thickly, with neutral tint and inky purple, chiefly at the larger end. Other eggs are pinkish salmon, and the sh.e.l.l is more or less thickly or thinly covered with pale greyish purple or neutral tint, and brownish-yellow or orangebrown spots and dashes.

”They vary in size from 12 to 106 in length, and 85 to 8 in breadth.”

Major C.T. Bingham has the following note:--”About five miles below the large village of Meplay, in the district of that name, the main stream of the Meplay river is joined by a tributary, the Theedoquee.