Chapter 27

Mr. J. Davidson informs us that on the 16th July he saw a brood of _Dicrurus caerulescens_ on the Kondabhari Ghât, just able to fly. Referring to Western Khandeish, he tells us that he saw only two nests. They were on adjoining trees in the Akrani; they were largish nests, not like those of _D. ater_, but more resembling those of _D. longicaudatus_ described in 'Nests and Eggs.' One nest contained three young ones, the other was only building; and nothing could have been more plucky than the way the old ones defended their nest.

331. Dicrurus leucopygialis, Blyth. _The White-vented Drongo_.

Buchanga leucopygialis (_Bl._), _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 281 bis.

Colonel Legge gives us the following account of the breeding of this Drongo, which is confined to Ceylon:--"The breeding-season of this Drongo is from March until May; and the nest is almost invariably built at the horizontal fork of the branch of a large tree, at a considerable height from the ground, sometimes as much as 40 feet. It is a shallow cup, measuring about 2¼ inches in diameter by 1 in depth, and is compactly put together, well finished round the top, but sometimes rather loose on the exterior, which is composed of fine grass-stalks and bark-fibres, the lining being of fine grass or tendrils of creepers. The number of eggs varies from two to four, three being the most common. They vary much in shape, and also in the depth of their ground-tint; some are regular ovals, others are stumpy at the small end, while now and then very spherical eggs are laid. They are either reddish white, 'fleshy,' or pure white, in some cases marked with small and large blotches of faded red, confluent at the obtuse end, and openly dispersed over the rest of the surface, overlying blots of faint lilac-grey; others have a conspicuous zone round the large end, with a few scanty blotches of light red and bluish grey on the remainder; in others, again, the markings are confined to a few very large roundish blotches of the above colours at one end, or, again, several still larger clouds of brick-red at the obtuse end, with a few blotches of the same at the other. Dimensions from 1·0 to 0·86 inch in length, by 0·72 to 0·68 in breadth. I once observed a pair in the north of Ceylon very cleverly forming their nest on a horizontal fork by first constructing the side furthest from the angle, thus forming an arch, which was then joined to the fork by the formation of the bottom of the structure.

"The parent birds in this species display great courage, vigourously sweeping down on any intruder who may threaten to molest their young."

334. Chaptia aenea (Vieill.). _The Bronzed Drongo_.

Chaptia aenea (_V._), _Jerd. B. Ind._ i, p. 433; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 282.

The Bronzed Drongo breeds, according to Mr. Hodgson's notes, in the central hills of Nepal, or rather in the plains near to these hills, rarely quitting large woods. They begin to lay in March, and build a broad somewhat saucer-shaped nest some 4 or 5 inches in width and 2 to 3 in depth externally. The nest is placed in some slender horizontal fork, to one at least of the twigs of which it is firmly attached by vegetable fibres; it is composed of fine twigs and grass, and bound round with, cobwebs in which pieces of lichen and small cocoons are often intermingled. Mr. Hodgson specially notes:--"_June 6th, valley_. Female, nest and eggs; nest on fork of upper branch of large tree, 4·5 inches wide by 2·25 deep, cup-shaped, made of fibres of grass bound with cobweb, lining none; three eggs, obtusely oval, the ground fawn tinged white, blotched (especially at larger end) with fawn or reddish brown,"

It appears that four is the maximum number of eggs laid; both sexes participate in the work of incubation and rearing the young, but they are very jealous of the approach of any birds when they have eggs or young, driving all such intruders away with the utmost bravery. The eggs measure from 0·88 to 0·95 inch by 0·65.

From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes:--"I have found the Bronzed Drongo breeding from April to June in the low hot valleys at about 2000 feet above the sea. It suspends its nest in a slender horizontal fork at 10 feet or more from the ground, and appears, like its frequent neighbour _Dicrurus longicaudatus_, to prefer a bamboo-clump to breed in. The nest is a compact cup, neatly made of fine grass-stalks, with an outer coating of dry bamboo-leaves plastered over with cobwebs; it is fastened to the supporting branches by cobwebs. Externally it measures 3·5 inches wide by 2 inches deep, internally 2·5 by 1·5.

"The usual number of eggs is three."

Major M. Forbes Coussmaker, writing from Bangalore, tells us:--"I took the nest of this bird on 6th April in the Shemagah District, Mysore. It was built on the fork of a bare branch about 20 feet from the ground in big tree-jungle, and was composed of fine grass, fibre, and a few dry bamboo-leaves woven together with cobwebs, making a small compact cup-like nest which measured 3 inches in diameter externally, 2·5 internally, and 1·4 deep.

"From where I stood I saw the bird come and sit on the nest and fly off again a dozen times at least. The eggs, three in number, measured ·9 by ·65, and were pinkish white with darker pink and light purple blotches and spots all over, principally at the larger end."

Mr. J.R. Cripps informs us that at Furreedpore, in Eastern Bengal, this species is "rather common; generally to be found perching on the dead branches of high trees overlooking water, especially whenever there is a dense undergrowth of jungle. On the 1st June, 1878, I secured a nest with three fresh eggs; it was built on a slender twig on the outer side of a mango-tree which was standing near a ryot's house, and was about 15 feet off the ground. External diameter 3½ inches, depth 2; internal diameter 2-1/3, depth 1-1/8. Saucer-shaped; the outside consisted of plaintain-leaves torn up into slips, all of which were firmly bound together by fibres of the plaintain-leaf and jute, which were wound round the twigs and secured the nest. Inside lining was made of very fine pieces of 'sone' grass. The pair were very pugnacious, attacking any birds coming near their nest. These birds have a clear mellow ringing whistle."

Mr. Oates writes from Pegu:--"I procured one nest on the 23rd April. It was placed at the tip of an outer branch of a jack tree, and attention was drawn to it by the vigorous attacks the parents made on passing birds. The nest was suspended in a fork; the outside diameter is 4 inches and inside 3, total depth 2½, and the egg-cup is about 1½; deep. The nest is composed of fine grass, strips of plaintain-bark, and other vegetable fibres closely woven together; the edges and the interior are chiefly of delicate branchlets of the finer weeds and grasses. It is overlaid at the edges, where it is attached to the branches, with cobwebs, and a few fragments of moss are stuck on at various points.

"There were two fresh eggs; the ground-colour is a pale salmon-fawn, and the shell is covered with darker spots and marks of the same. They are only very slightly glossy. The two eggs measure 0·85 by 0·62."

Major C.T. Bingham writes from Tenasserim:--"On the 10th March, 1880, being encamped at the head-waters of the Queebawchoung, a feeder of the Meplay, and having an hour to spare, I took my gun and climbed up a steep hill to the very sources of the Queebaw. Here, hanging over the trickling stream, was a nest of _Chaptia aenea_ firmly woven and tied on to a fork in the branch of a little tree, at a height of about 10 feet from the ground. The nest was of roots and grass lined by soft fine black roots, and held three eggs, of a rich salmon-pink, obscurely spotted darker at the large end; they measure 0·83 by 0·61, 0·82 by 0·61, and 0·80 by 0·61 respectively.

"On the 15th March, 1880, in the fork of a branch of a small zimbun-tree (_Dillenia pentagyna_), hanging over a pathway along the bank of the Meplay stream, I found a nest of the above species. A neat strongly-made little cup of vegetable fibres and cobwebs, containing two fresh eggs; ground-colour dull salmon, obscurely spotted with brownish pink. They measure 0·86 by 0·64 and 0·88 by 0·65."

Mr. J.L. Darling, Jun., records the following notes:--

"26th March. Found a nest of _Chaptia aenea_, building, when on the march from Tavoy to Nwalabo, some seven miles east of Tavoy, in the fork of a bamboo-branch 12 feet from ground.

"29th March. Took two fresh eggs of _Chaptia aenea_, and shot the bird off nest, about twenty-three miles east of Tavoy, in open bamboo-land, very low elevation. The nest was built in the fork of an overhanging branch of a bamboo some 50 feet from the ground.

"13th April. Found a nest of _Chaptia aenea_ with two large young ones. Nest built in a tree some 40 feet from ground, in open forest about twenty miles east of Tavoy.

"22nd April. Found a nest of _Chaptia aenea_ with two large young ones. Nest built at the end of a bough about 30 feet from ground, near Tavoy."

The nests of this species are quite of the Oriole type, more or less deep cups suspended between the forks of small branches or twigs of some bamboo-clump or tree. Exteriorly they are composed of dry flags of grass, bits of bamboo-spathes, or coarse grass, bound together with vegetable fibres and often with a good deal of cobweb worked over them; sometimes a tiny bit or two of moss may be found added, and often the fine thread-like flower-stems of grass. Interiorly they are generally lined with excessively fine grass. In one or two nests very fine black fern-roots are intermingled with the grass lining. The nests vary a good deal in size, but are all extremely compact, and while some are decidedly massive, nearly an inch thick at bottom, others are scarcely a quarter of this in thickness beneath. In one the cavity is 2·5 inches broad by 3 long, and fully 2 deep; in another it is about 2·5 inches in diameter by scarcely 1·25 inches in depth. In one nest four fresh eggs were found; in another three fully incubated ones. The nests were suspended at heights of from 10 to 30 feet from the ground.

The eggs sent by Mr. Gammie very much recall the eggs of _Niltava_ and others of the Flycatchers. They are moderately elongated ovals, in some cases slightly pyriform, in others somewhat pointed towards the small end. The shell is fine and compact, smooth and silky to the touch, but they have but little gloss. The ground-colour varies from a pale pinkish fawn to a pale salmon-pink, and they exhibit round the large end a feeble more or less imperfect and irregular zone of darker-coloured cloudy spots, in some cases reddish, in some rather inclining to purple, which zone is more or less involved in a haze of the same colour, but slightly darker than the rest of the ground-colour of the egg.

The eggs vary in length from 0·76 to 0·88, and in breadth from 0·6 to 0·64. The average of fifteen eggs is 0·82 by 0·61.

335. Chibia hottentotta (Linn.). _The Hair-crested Drongo_.

Chibia hottentota (_L.), Jerd. B. Ind._ i, p. 439; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 286.

Mr. R. Thompson says:--"The Hair-crested Drongo is extremely common as a breeder in all our hot valleys (Kumaon and Gurwhal). It lays in May and June, building in forks of branches of small leafy trees situated in warm valleys having an elevation of from 2000 to 2500 feet. The nest is circular, about 5 inches in diameter, rather deep and hollow; it is composed of fine roots and fibres bound together with cobwebs, and it is lined with hairs and fine roots. They lay from three to four much elongated, purplish-white eggs, spotted with pink or claret colour."

Dr. Jerdon remarks:--"The Lepchas at Darjeeling brought me the nest, which was said to have been placed high up in a large tree; it was composed of twigs and roots and a few bits of grass, and contained two eggs, livid white, with purplish and claret spots, and of a very elongated form."

The Jobraj, according to Mr. Hodgson's notes and figures, begins to lay in Nepal in April. It builds a large shallow nest, 8 or 9 inches in diameter externally, with the cavity of about half that diameter, attached, as a rule, to the slender branches of some horizontal fork, between which it is suspended much like that of an Oriole, though much shallower than this latter; it is composed of small twigs, fine roots, and grass-stems bound together, and it is attached to the branches by vegetable fibre, and more or less coated with cobwebs; little pieces of lichen and moss are also blended in the nest. It lays three or four eggs, rather pyriform in shape, measuring 1·25 by 0·86 inch, with a whitish or pinky-whitish ground, speckled and spotted pretty well all over, but most densely towards the large end, with reddish pink.

From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes:--"I took two nests of the Hair-crested Drongo this year in June, both at about an elevation of 1500 feet in wooded valleys, placed well up in the outer branches of tall, slender trees; they are of a broad saucer-shape, openly but firmly made of roots and stems of slender climbers, and destitute of lining. There is a good deal of cobweb on the outsides of the nests, and they were attached to the supporting branches by the same material. One was fixed in among several upright sprays, the other suspended in a slender fork after the manner of an Oriole. They measured about 6 inches broad by 2¼ deep externally, internally 4 by 1¾. One nest contained four fresh eggs, the other three partially-incubated eggs."

Mr. Oates, writing from Pegu, says:--"In the first week of May I took several nests of this bird, but in all cases the nests were situated in such dangerous places that most of the eggs got broken; there were three in each nest. The position of the nest and the nest itself are very much like those of _D. paradiseus_. Comparing many nests of both species together, the only difference appears to be that the nests of the Hair-crested Drongo are slightly larger on the whole.

"The only two eggs saved measure 1·10 by ·8 and 1·11 by ·81; they are slightly glossy, dull white, minutely and thickly freckled and spotted with reddish brown and pale underlying marks of neutral tint.

"I may add that at the commencement of May all the eggs were much incubated."

Major C.T. Bingham remarks:--"During the breeding season in the end of March and in April I saw a great number of nests round and about Meeawuddy in Tenasserim, but all inaccessible, as they were invariably built out at the very end of the thinnest branches of eng, teak, thingan (_Hopea odorata_), and other trees.

"Except during those two months, I have not seen the bird plentiful anywhere."

Mr. J.R. Cripps has written the following valuable notes regarding the breeding of the Hair-crested Drongo in the Dibrugarh district in Assam:--

"17th May, 1879. Nest with three fresh eggs, attached to a fork in one of the outer brandies of an otinga (_Dillenia pentagyna_) tree, and about 15 feet off the ground.

"15th May, 1880. Three fresh eggs in a nest 20 feet off the ground, and a few yards from my bungalow, in an oorian (_Bischoffia javanica_, Bl.).

"5th June, 1880. Nest with three partly-incubated eggs, in one of the outer branches of a jack (_Artocarpus integrifolia_) tree, and about 15 feet off the ground.

"27th May, 1881. Three fresh eggs in a nest on a soom (_Machilus odoratissima_) tree at the edge of the forest bordering the tea. The nests are deep saucers, 3½ inches in diameter, internally 1½ deep, with the sides about ¼ thick; but the bottom is so flimsy that the eggs are easily seen from below, the materials being grass, roots, and fine tendrils of creepers, especially if these are thorny, when they are used as a lining. The nest is always situated in the fork of a branch."

The nests are large, shallow, King-Crow-like structures, often suspended between forks, sometimes placed between four or five upright shoots, at times resting on a horizontal bough against and attached to some more or less upright shoots. They are composed mainly of roots thinly but firmly twisted together, have sometimes a good deal of cobweb twisted round their outer surface, often a good deal of vegetable fibre used for the same purpose and, though they have no lining, are always composed interiorly of finer material than that used for the outer portion of the structure. Exteriorly the diameter varies from 6 to nearly 7 inches, the height from nearly 2 to 2½; the cavity is usually about 4 inches in diameter and 1·5 to 1·75 in depth. I have taken the nests in May and June alike in small and large trees, at elevations of from 10 to 30 feet from the ground.

Typically the eggs are rather broad ovals, a good deal pointed towards the small end, but they vary a great deal both in size and shape, are occasionally very much elongated, and again, at times, exhibit the characteristic pointing but feebly. The ground-colour varies from greyish white to a delicate pale pink; as a rule the markings are small and inconspicuous frecklings and specklings of pale purple reddish where the ground, is pink, greyish where it is white, tolerably thickly set about the large end and somewhat sparsely elsewhere; but in some eggs these markings are everywhere almost obsolete. In many there is a dull pale purplish cloud underlying the primary markings, extending over the greater part of the large end of the egg. Not uncommonly a few specks and spots of yellowish brown are scattered here and there about the egg. In one egg before me the markings are larger, more decided, and fewer in number--distinct spots, some of them one tenth of an inch in diameter; and in this egg the spots are decidedly brownish red, while intermixed with, them are a few specks and clouds of inky purple. The ground in this case is a pale pinky white.

As a rule the eggs are entirely devoid of gloss, but one or two have a very faint gloss.

The eggs measure from 1·01 to 1·21 in length, and from 0·79 to 0·86 in breadth; but the average of twenty-nine eggs is 1·12 by 0·81.

338. Dissemurulus lophorhinus (Vieill.). _The Ceylon Black Drongo_.

Dissemuroides lophorhinus (V.), _Hume, cat._ no. 283 quat.

Colonel Legge says, in his 'Birds of Ceylon':--"This species breeds in the south of Ceylon in the beginning of April. I have seen the young just able to fly in the Opaté forests at the end of this month; but I have not succeeded in getting any information concerning its nest or eggs."

339. Bhringa remifer (Temm.). _The Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo_.

Bhringa remifer (_Temm._), _Jerd. B. Ind._ i, p. 434. Bhringa tenuirostris, _Hodgs., Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 283.

Of the Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo Mr. R. Thompson says:--"This elegant Drongo is somewhat common in our lower Kumaon ranges. Its lively clear and ringing notes are one of the greatest charms of the spring season in our forests. It breeds in May and June, and builds upon lofty trees in dense forests, usually in some deep damp valley. The nest from below looks just like that of a common King-Crow--a broad shallow cup; but I never closely examined either nest or eggs."

Dr. Jerdon remarks:--"A nest with eggs were brought to me in June, said to be of this species. The nest was loosely made of sticks and roots, and contained three eggs, reddish white, with a very few reddish-brown blotches."

From. Sikhim, Mr. Gammie writes:--"I have taken but one nest of this Drongo. It was suspended between two small horizontal forking branches of a tall tree, some 20 feet from ground. It is a neat, saucer-shaped structure, somewhat triangular, to fit well up to the fork, built of fibry roots, and firmly bound to the branches by spiders' webs. The sides and bottom are strong, but so thin that they can everywhere be seen through. Externally it measures 4.5 inches across by 1·9 in height; internally 3·5 by 1·3. It was taken on the 15th May at 2500 feet, and contained three partially incubated eggs."

A nest of this species taken by Mr. Gammie at Rishap (elevation 4800) in Sikhim, on the 20th May, is a very broad shallow saucer, composed almost entirely of moderately fine dark brown roots, but with a few slender herbaceous twigs intermingled. It is suspended in the fork of two widely diverging twigs, to which either margin is attached, chiefly by cobwebs, though on one side at one place part of the substance of the nest is wound round the twig: the cavity, which is not lined, is oval, and measures 3·5 inches by 2·75, by barely 0·75 in depth. The female seated on the nest had long tail-feathers, so this species does not drop these for convenience in incubating.

Several nests of this species obtained in Sikhim by Messrs. Gammie, Mandelli, &c. are all precisely similar--broad saucers, suspended Oriole-like between the fork of a small branch. Exteriorly composed of moderately fine brown roots, more or less bound together, especially those portions of them that are bound round the twigs of the fork with cobwebs, and lined interiorly with fine black horsehair-like roots. 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 1½ inch in depth; though strong and firm, and fully ¼ 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 shell 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 1·09 by 0·75, and a third measures 0·98 by 0·75.

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 1·1 by 0·87 inch.

Mr. Iver Macpherson writes from Mysore:--