( 483 ) 



Total lenirth ra. T'O in. ; wing 3o — 3-7,* tail :Vx!, tarsus M. 



Adidt femdlc. — Like the male, but as a rule the white speculum at the base of 

 the primary ijuills is less developed, hidden l)y the greater coverts, or absent. 



Immature birds. — Vary somewhat in the general colour of the u]>per parts, some 

 being greyish brown, while others have a distinctly rufous tinge ; the white speculum 

 lit the base of the jjrimary quills is absent, the featliers of the breast and sides have 

 coneeutricdark markings, and the tail-feathers are tipjied with white at the extremity 

 and have a faint snbterminal A-shaped dusky marking. 



llah. Central and South-AV'esteru Asia and North-East Africa, ranging west to 

 the valley of the White Nile, southwards to Abyssinia, Southern Arabia and India, 

 eastwards to Lobnor, and northwards to Mongolia and Dauria. 



Dr. Reichenow has kindly forwarded me the types, male and female, of 

 L. isabelliiius Hempr. & Ehr. ; he has also sent the type of L. speculigerus Tacz. 

 The male of the former, in freshly moulted plumage, has the crown dull rufous-brown. 

 Taczanowski's type, a worn bird in breeding plumage (May), has the head and back 

 of a greyish tint. There can be no doubt that the difierence is merely due to 

 season, and our large series supplies all the intermediate links, which prove this 

 to be tiie case. 



The Museum possesses one of the co-types of />. speculiger/is from the Argun 

 Kiver, Dauria, which differs somewhat from the type and is indistinguishable from 

 the male type of L. isabelUmis. 



0(1. Lanius lucioneusis. 



Lniiiiis liii-iuiicii<i'i Liun., .S'..V. i. p. 1.3.5 (1760) (Luzon) ; Gadow, t. c. p. 274, 

 Emtcortonnn scbirtuierl Bonap., CoiiAp. Av. i. p. 'MVi\ (IsriO) (Borueo). 

 La/i/'ns Jeracop^i>i De Filippi, J/'(-s-, Medio/, p. 31 ; Bonaj)., lier. el May. Zoul. 18j3. p. 437. 

 Olomela liicioiiieiisis (sic) Bogd.. t. c. pp. 4(5, 215. 



Adidt mule. — Crown and upper j)arts dull earthy brown, shading into grey on 

 the forehead and reddish brown on tlie upper tail-coverts : lores, feathers above and 

 below the eye, and ear-coverts black; tail dark brown; chin, thmat and foreneck 

 wiiite ; breast and rust of under parts after the spring moult cinnamon, paler on the 

 belly. In worn winter plumage the bird presents a very different appearance, the 

 upper parts being j)aler, sometimes almost whitish, on the forehead and crowu, and 

 the under parts nearly white, the bufl' having almost or entirely disappeared ; there 

 is no white speculum at the base of the primary quills. 



There is a specimen in the Steere collection, killed on March oth, which has 

 partially assumed the summer plumage, and many birds shot in April are in full 

 summer ])lumage. 



Total length ca. 7'5 in. ; wing 3-4, tail 3'4, tarsus 1. 



Adult female. — Similar to tiie adult male, but some breeding birds still retain 

 traces of bars on the sides of the lireast and flanks. 



Immature birds. — Are very similar to the young of /-. cristafu.'<, but the crown 

 is brown like the back. 



JIab. Eastern and Soufli-Eastern Asia, ranging westwards to the Andaman and 

 Nicobar Islands, and ix;casionally straggling to Southern India and Ceylon, c.\teniling 



* An adult vialc from Shaik Otliman, S. Arabia, is abnormally large, having a wing measui-emeut 

 o£ 3-9 in. 



