DICRURUS BRACTEATUS , Gould.
Spangled Drongo.
Dicrurus Balicassius, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 211.
— bracteatus, Gould in Proc. of Zdol. Soc., Part x. p. 132.
H a v in g carefully compared the bird here represented with the other species o f the genus inhabiting Africa,
the continent o f India and the Indian islands, I find it to be quite distinct from the whole o f them ; I
have therefore assigned to it a separate specific title, and selected that o f bracteatus as expressive of its
beautifully spangled appearauce. Its range is very extensive, the bird being equally abundant in all parts
o f the northern and eastern portions of Australia; it was fouud by Captain Grey on the north-west coast,
by Mr. Gilbert at Port Essington, and it has also been observed in the neighbourhood of Moreton Bay on
the east coast. I did not encounter it myself during my rambles in Australia; we are therefore indebted
to Mr. Gilbert’s notes for all that is known of its history. “ This species,” says he, “ is one of the commonest
birds of the Cobourg Peninsula, where it is generally seen in pairs and may be met with in every
variety o f situation, but more frequently among the thickets and mangroves than elsewhere. It is at all
times exceedingly active and is strictly insectivorous; its food consisting entirely o f insects o f various kinds,
but particularly those belonging to the orders Coleoptera and Neuroplera. Its mode of flight and its voice
are both exceedingly variable; its usual note is a loud, disagreeably harsh, cackling or creaking whistle, so
totally different from that o f any other bird, that having been once heard it is readily recognised.
“ I found five nests on the 16th o f November, all o f which contained young birds, some o f them nearly
able to fly, and others apparently but just emerged from the egg. The whole o f these nests were exactly
alike and formed o f the same material, the dry wiry climbing stalk o f a common parasitic plant, without
any kind of lining; they were exceedingly difficult to examine from their being placed on the weakest part
o f the extremities of the horizontal branches o f a thickly-foliaged tree at an altitude o f not less than thirty
feet from the ground; they were o f a very shallow form, about five inches and a half in diameter; the eggs
would seem to be three or four in number, as three of the nests contained three, and the other two four
young birds in each.”
The head and the body both above and below are deep black, the feathers o f the head with a crescent,
and those o f the body, particularly of the breast, with a spot o f deep metallic green at the t ip ; wings and
tail deep glossy green; under wing-coverts black tipped with white; irides brownish red; bill and feet
blackish brown.
The Plate represents a specimen procured at Port Essington of the natural size, and I may remark that
examples obtained in that locality are somewhat smaller than those killed on the north-western and
eastern coasts.