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."