PRIONOPID.E. 263 



Family PRIONOPIDtE. 

 Genus GRALLINA, Vieill. 



Grallina picata {Lath.). 



Grallina australia, Thien. Fortpfianz. ges. Vog. tab. xxvii. fig. 2, a, b 



(1845-54). 

 Grallina picata, Gould, Handb. Birds Austr. i. p. 188 (1865) ; Sharpe, 



Cat. Birds B. M. iii. p. 272 (1877) ; North, Nests $ Eggs Austr. 



Birds, p. 79, pi. viii. fig. 12 (1889) ; Le Souef, Vict. Nat. xvi. p. 63 



(1899) ; id. Knowledge, xxiii. p. 92 (1900) ; id. Ibis, 1901, p. 135 ; 



Campbell, Nests $■ Eggs Austr. Birds, i. p. 87, pi. 6 (1901) ; Sharpe, 



Hand-l. iv. p. 264 (1*903). 



The eggs of the Magpie-Shrike are usually of a narrow oval shape, 

 but some are broad and somewhat pyriform. They are moderately 

 glossy. The ground varies from cream-colour or pinkish white to 

 salmon-pink, and is marked, almost entirely at the broad end in 

 the form of a cap or broad zone, with more or less confluent 

 blotches, spots, and clouds of purplish red, reddish brown, and violet- 

 grey. The smaller half of the egg is usually only sparingly 

 speckled. Specimens measure from 1-03 to 1*2 in length, and from 

 •79 to *89 in breadth. 



3. Queensland, Australia (Owen). Gould Coll. 



3. Springfield, Queensland. Gould Coll. 



4. Dawson River, Queensland, 17th Crowley Bequest. 



Oct. (North Coll.). 



2. Dobroyde, N.S.W. (E. P. Ramsay). Crowley Bequest. 



2. Sydney (Tristram Coll.). Crowley Bequest. 



1. New South Wales. Gould Coll. 



2. New South Wales. Gould Coll. 



9. Victoria. Government of Victoria [P.]. 



1. Gippsland, Victoria. F. A. Philbrick, Esq., K.C. [P.], 



4. Melbourne. A. J. Campbell, Esq. [P.]. 



3. Melbourne, Sept. (A. J. North). Crowley Bequest. 



Genus HEMIPUS, Hodgs. 

 Hemipus picatus (Sykes). 



(Plate XI. fig. 20.) 



Hemipus picatus, Sharpe, Cat. Birds B. M. iii. p. 307 (1877) ; Oates, 

 Fauna Brit. Lid., Birds, i. p. 471 (1889) ; id. ed. Hume, Nests 8r Eggs 

 Ind. Birds, i. p. 327 (1889) : Nehrk. Kat. Eiersamml, p. 22 (1899) ; 

 Sharpe, Hand-l. iv. p. 264 (1903). 



Two eggs of the Black-backed Pied Shrike are of a narrow oval 

 form and nearly devoid of gloss. They are greenish or greyish 

 white, profusely blotched, spotted, and streaked with two shades of 

 umber-brown and with lavender. Iu one example the markings 



