AVIS-IBIS

Birds of Indian Subcontinent

783. Dissemuroides andamanensis andamanensis

(783) Dissemuroides andamanensis andamanensis Tytler.
THE SMALL ANDAMANESE DRONGO.
Dissemuroides andamanensis andamanensis, Fauna B. I., Birds, 2nd ed. vol. ii, p. 371.
So far as is at present known, this Drongo is confined to Port Blair and the Macpherson Straits.
In 1905-7 Osmaston obtained a really wonderful series of this bird’s nests and eggs and, later, others were obtained by Wickham and Anderson.
The following note by Osmaston (Journ. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc. vol. xvii, p. 156, 1906) gives the only record of its breeding :— “Common, but restricted to well-wooded and forest areas. Has a variety of notes. Breeds from the middle of April to the middle of May. The nest consists of a shallow cup or cradle suspended from the forked twig of some usually dry or leafless tree, generally at a considerable height from the ground. It is composed of fine twigs firmly interwoven together and attached to the support by cobwebs and is scantily lined with black hair-like rhizomorph. The eggs, two or three in number, differ strikingly in colour, at least half a dozen distinct types being found. The commonest variety is, perhaps, one in which the ground-colour is pale salmon-pink spotted all over with pale brownish markings and with some underlying spots of pale grey. In another type the ground is white and the markings consist of bold, darker spots and streaks of pinkish-brown. Others again are spotted and blotched with dark purplish-brown in a zone at the large end or, again, they may be finely speckled with black, in a cap at the large end.”
One very beautiful pair has the ground white, boldly splashed at the larger end with deep purple-brown and underlying clouds of grey, the rest of the surface immaculate. Other eggs are of the beautiful red marble type already described. There are no pure white eggs.
Fifty eggs average 24.8 x 18.3 mm. : maxima 27.1 x 19.1 and 25.8 x 19.4 mm. ; minima 22.0 x 18.0 and 25.1 x 17.8 mm.
In notes on the data-slips sent me with his series of eggs Osmaston writes that the nests were taken from both very large forest trees and from small ones, but nearly always the former, standing in forest, open forest, or scrub-jungle. They were placed at heights varying from 15 to 30 feet.
The nests were all taken between the 2nd April and the 17th May, and both in 1905 and in 1907 the earliest and latest dates were the same.

BookTitle: 
The Nidification Of Birds Of The Indian Empire
Reference: 
Baker, Edward Charles Stuart. The nidification of birds of the Indian Empire. Vol. 2. 1933.
Title in Book: 
783. Dissemuroides andamanensis andamanensis
Spp Author: 
Tytler.
Book Author: 
Edward Charles Stuart Baker
CatNo: 
783
Year: 
1933
Page No: 
338
Common name: 
Small Andamanese Drongo
M_ID: 
19656
M_SN: 
Dicrurus andamanensis andamanensis
Volume: 
Vol. 2
id: 
13921

Add new comment

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.
Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith