DIMENSIONS.
Inches. Lines. Inches. Lines.
Length from the point of the bill to Length of the tarsus................ ...... 0 7£
the tip of the tail 7 2 of the middle toe......... ........ 0 H
Length of the bill from the gape...... 0 10^ of the outer toe........... ....... 0 4
of the ta il............................ 3 6 of the inner toe......... ........ 0 3i
of the wings when folded..... 4 0 of the hinder toe......... ........ 0
Nothing is known of the female.
A few specimens of this bird were seen in 1832 in the forests adjoining Port Natal, but only
one was procured. They were very shy, and the least ground of alarm caused them either to
fly from their usual haunts or to retire into the dense foliage whither we could not follow them.
The most retired situations appeared to form their favourite h a b ita ts , and in those they were
either seen perched upon some dead tree, or else performing rapid evolutions in the air in search
of food. They appeared from their perches to watch the approach of the insects upon which
they fed, and the instant they perceived them they were upon the wing, and actively engaged
in pursuing them. In the course of these movements they performed considerable circuits over
the adjoining thickets, but generally at last returned to the spots from whence they set out, and
there waited the appearances which courted further exertions. On one occasion two individuals
were observed in the same locality; in the others only one.
This, and L e D ro n g ea r , Le Vaillant, Ois d’Afrique, pi. 167, (D ic ru ru s musicus, Vieill.) are the
only species of the genus which I have been able to find in South Africa, though the author just
mentioned assigns two others to that country, viz. L e Dro n g o , pi. 166^ (D ic ru ru s cristatus, Vieill.)
and L e D ro n g o a moustaches, pi. 169, (D ic ru ru s mystaceus, Vieill.) Considering the general
accuracy of Le Vaillant, one feels disinclined to question his correctness on the present occasion,
yet at the same time I must give it as my opinion that the last named, if they were killed in
the localities our traveller mentions, are now no longer to be found in them, or else that they
are only occasionally there as immigrants from some other country.