uently
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 11/2 inch in depth; though strong
and firm, and fully 1/4 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 m