LANIUS. 213 
Some confusion exists regarding this bird, owing to its being subject to some variation 
in Costa Rica, two (and even three) species having been stated to be found in that country. 
The amount of yellow on the belly varies considerably in different individuals; those in 
which the white of the underparts is most restricted have been called C. Jlaviventris, 
and considered the same as the Mexican bird. Those with more white beneath are 
C. subflavescens, whilst those in which the white extends to the chest have been considered 
inseparable from C. flavipectus, the species of Colombia, Venezuela, &c. Finding all 
these forms in Costa Rica, we do not see how any separation can be made: we therefore 
call them by Mr. Sclater’s name, it being the oldest. The differences of size and colour 
alluded to by Prof. Cabanis in his original description, and commented upon by Prof. 
Baird, we do not see confirmed in the series before us. It must be noted, however, that 
the true C. flaviventris does not occur in Costa Rica, as all specimens from that country 
have the lower belly white. 
C. flavipectus, though not uncommon in Costa Rica, does not appear to be found in 
the State of Panama, except in the neighbourhood of Chiriqui. Absent from the 
isthmus itself, it reappears at Santa Marta and near Bogota, in Colombia, and again in 
Venezuela and Trinidad, whence Mr. Sclater’s types of the species were obtained!. 
Fam. LANTIIDA*. 
LANIUS. 
Lanius, Linnzus, Syst. Nat. i. p. 184 (1766). 
The genus Lantus is far more strongly developed in the Old World than in the New, 
where only two well defined species occur in the Nearctic Region, one of them extending 
its range over the whole of Mexico. In the Old World the range of Lantus and its 
close allies includes the Palearctic, Indian, and Ethiopian Regions, the Australian 
alone being outside its limits. 
The strong raptorial bill of Landus distinguishes it from most of the Passerine birds. 
This is used for the capture and destruction of small birds and the larger kinds of 
insects, and is strongly notched near the curved and pointed end of the mandible. The 
feet, though strong, are like those of ordinary Passeres; the tarsus is longer than the 
middle toe, the lateral toes being nearly equal. 
1. Lanius ludovicianus. 
Lanius ludovicianus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 184'; Bp. P. Z. S. 1837, p. 1127. 
Collyrio ludovicianus, Dresser, Ibis, 1865, p. 480°. 
Collurio ludovicianus, Baird, Rev. Am. B. i. p. 443‘; Baird, Brew. & Ridgw. N. Am. B. i. p. 418°. 
Lanius eacubitorides, Sw. Faun. Bor.-Am. ii. p. 115, t. 84°; Scl. P. Z. S. 1864, p, 1737. 
* See anted, p. 185. 
