8 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.82 



Family LANIIDAE, Shrikes 



LANIUS COLLARIS SUBCORONATUS Snrith 



Ltmius subcoronatus A. Smith, Illustrations of the zoology of South Africa, 

 pi. 68, 1841 (Latakoo). 



A female was collected at Fish River, 6 miles from Berseba, on 

 March 1, 1931. Mrs. Sordahl found it perching " * * * in a tree 

 that was thickly populated with insects." 



The specimen is a young one molting into adult plumage. 



TELOPHORUS ZEYLONUS PHANUS (Hartert) 



Pelicinius zeylonus pharms Hartebt, Nov. Zool., vol. 27, p. 451, 1920 (Farta 

 Bay, near Benguella Town). 



Mrs. Sordahl collected an adult male 20 miles from Keetmanshoop, 

 on September 10, 1931. Her notes on this shrike are as follows: 

 " Found hopping among the bushes in a dry creek bed, eating insects. 

 This bird had a huge grasshopper in its mouth when I shot it. They 

 fly in pairs. When resting in the bushes, first one calls and the other 

 answers. They do not warble or sing. Their call is a whistle of 

 many notes. The whistle is exactly like a human being's whistle, 

 and if one did not see the bird one would think it was a person 

 whistling." 



In the original description of pharnus, which is a pale-backed race, 

 Hartert writes that " * * * probably a third form inhabits 

 Namaqualand, as a male and female collected by C. B. Grant in May 

 and July, 1903, at an elevation of 3,104 feet, appear to have the flanks 

 and sides of breast much more widely ashy grey, and are a little 

 smaller. More material will probably lead to the establishment of a 

 third form." I have seen no Angolan birds (typical phanus) and so 

 can not say whether the present specimen, which, on the grounds of 

 its pale-green back as compared with a series of typical zeylonus^ is 

 definitely pTmnus, differs from Benguella birds in the coloration of the 

 flanks and sides. I find no appreciable size difference between it and 

 South African birds {zeylonus)^ and, since Hartert found none be- 

 tween Angolan and South African examples, I assume it to be similar 

 in size to typical phanus. It does have the gray color of the sides 

 and flanks very extensively developed, but is matched in this regard 

 by two Cape Province examples. Its dimensions are as follows: 

 Wing, 95; tail, 96.5; culmen from base, 23 mm. In my opinion it 

 would be unwise to describe a third form on such slender evidence. 



This specimen extends the known range of phanus far to the south 

 and upsets the distribution given by Sclater ^ who records pJmnus 



' Systema avium Ethlopicarum, pt. 1. p. G34, 1924. 



