Dicrurus caerulescens (_L._), _Jerd B. Ind_ i, p. 432.
Dicrurus caeruleus (_Müll._), _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._
no. 281.
I have never seen a nest of the White-bellied Drongo. Mr. R. Thompson
says:--"This bird's breeding-habitat is from 2500 to 6000 feet in the
Himalayas. It is common on the south-eastern slopes of Nyneetal. It
lays in May and June, placing its shallow cup-shaped nest in some
little fork near the top of a moderate-sized oak-tree, if breeding on
a mountain-side, but of some tall _Alnus nipalensis, Acacia elata_,
or _Acer oblongum_, if nesting in deep dells or valleys. The nest
appeared to be exactly like that of _D. ater_; but I can say nothing
very positive about it or the eggs, as, though continually seeing
them, I never, I think, took the trouble of getting one down."
Colonel G.F.L. Marshall, commenting on Mr. Thompson's remark that this
Drongo is common near Naini Tal, says:--"My experience on this point
is negative; I have carefully searched the south-eastern slopes of
Naini Tal for four years without even seeing the bird, so that I do
not think it can be classed as a common breeder here."
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.