Birds of Lucknoiv. 539 



No. 476. Lanius erythronotus. Kufous-hacked Shrike. 



Mattiya lahtora [H.]. 



According to my experience this species is rarer close 

 to Lucknow than either L. lahtora or L. vittatus, but further 

 out in the District it is much the commonest Shrike. I saw 

 numbers on the telegraph-wires one day in December as I was 

 travelling between Lucknow and Cawnpore. It breeds here, 

 and I have taken what I believe to be its nest and eggs on 

 two or three occasions. They resembled those of L. lahtora^ 

 but were a trifle smaller. I saw the birds^ but in a bad 

 light, when it was impossible to swear to anything. All the 

 nests and eggs were found at one end of a babool-tope, and 

 at the other end I took several nests of L. lahtora, shooting 

 the birds. I distinctly saw both the Shrikes in the tope, 

 and though 1 did not succeed in obtaining a single specimen 

 of L. erythronotus at its nest, I am fairly confident of the 

 genuineness of my eggs. I hope, however, to succeed later 

 in getting a clutch with the parent bird. 



Average of 9 (presumed erythronotus) Lucknow eggs. . "97" X '73" 



Measurement of largest e^^ 1-00" x ■75" 



„ smallest egg •95" x '70" 



No. 479. Lanius isabellinus. Pale-brown Shrike. 



Reid stated that this Shrike was not common. As he 

 apparently got only one specimen, an adult (? sex), at 

 Ajgaen, Avhich is now in the Lucknow Museum, and as I 

 have never met with it in seven years, I think that it cannot 

 le said to be a frequent visitor to this part of Oudh. 



No. 481. Lanius cristatus. Brown Shrike. 



This pretty Shrike is not uncommon in the cold weather. 

 1 have often s ecu and shot it in babool-topes on open plains. 

 All the specimens that I have secured have been more or 

 less barred. 



No. 488. Tephrodornis pondicerianus. Common Wood- 

 Shrike. 



Kerula [H., teste Reid]. Tanti-tuia [Anglo-Indian boys]. 



This species is fairly common and is a permanent resident. 

 According to Reid^s experience and my own it is always 



