Viscount Walden on the Rii/uus- failed Shrikes. 221 



Otomela crassirosiris (Kuhl), Bp., E,ev. de Zool. 1853, p. 437, 

 sp. 31 (ex Java ?) . 



Lanius tigrinus, Drap., Blytli, Cat. Mus. Calc. p. 152. no. 875, 

 (Malacca) (nee Drap.). 



(Plate VI. fig. 1, c?,fig. 2, $.) 



A very small species of Shrike, perhaps the smallest of the 

 genua, with a stout, almost disproportionate bill, and with the 

 upper plumage generally deep rufous-brown, verging on choco- 

 late, much striated with fiue dark lines, the crown of the head, 

 in old males, cinereous, seems to be common in the Malay 

 Peninsula and exists in Sumatra. It and assumed Javan in- 

 dividuals have been described as distinct by several authors 

 and under separate names; and in their turns these titles 

 have been regarded by subsequent writers as synonyms of one 

 another, as well as of others of the older species already noticed. 

 It is a well-marked form, readily to be distinguished by its 

 diminutive size, grey head in the male, and very thick bill; 

 yet materials necessary for a permanent rectification of its 

 synonymy are still wanting, and will remain incomplete until 

 specimens of the form described as existing in Java are brought 

 together and compared with those of Malacca and Sumatra. 

 One, if not two, species, apparently nearly allied to the Malay 

 form, have by different authors been described as inhabiting 

 Java. And yet I can find no satisfactory evidence that a Shrike 

 of that race actually inhabits the island at all. No Javan ex- 

 amples are preserved in the British or East-Indian Museums. 

 Nor did Mr. Wallace meet with any such species in Java, 

 although he procured several specimens in Sumatra. The 

 localities given by Drapiez generally require collateral support ; 

 and the same may be said of those contained in the 'Museum 

 Heineanum :' while in the ' Conspectus,^ on the subject of 

 localities, Bonaparte is singularly inaccurate. If a thick-billed 

 rufous Shrike does occur in Java, it will still remain to be 

 shown whether it be the same as, or specifically distinct from 

 the Malay bird. In the absence of Javan examples, and of any 

 reliable evidence of their occurrence, I have brought all those 

 titles which refer to alleged Javan specimens of the thick-billed 

 form under Lesson's designation of L. magnirostris, which clearly , 



