ARTAMIA CHABERT 189 
Artamia chabert. 
Lanius chabert, P. L. S. Mill. 8. N. Suppl. p. 72 (1776). 
Leptopterus chabert, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iii. p. 282 (1877); Milne Edw, 
and Grand. Hist. Mad. Ois. i. p. 414 pls. 154a, figs. 2, 158, 159 
(1885) ; Nehrkorn, Cat. Hiers. p. 21 (1899) egg. 
Artamia chabert, Shelley, B. Afr. i. No. 654 (1896). 
Abbottornis chabert, Sharpe, Handl. B. iv. p. 263 (1903). 
Lanius violaceus, Bodd. Tabl. Pl. Enl. p. 3 (1783) Madagascar. 
Lanius viridis (non Mill.) Gm. 8. N. i. p. 306 (1788) Madagascar. 
Leptopterus viridis, Sibree, Ibis, 1891, p. 436. 
Analcipus hirundinaceus, Swains. An. in Menag. p. 284 (1838). 
Adult male. Upper parts black glossed with green, under parts and sides 
of neck pure white, with the thighs and under surface of wings black. ‘‘ Blue 
wattled eyelids ; iris brown; bill pearl-grey; feet black’ (Grandidier). Total 
length 6 inches, culmen 0:65, wing 3°7, tail 2:1, tarsus 0°65. Madagascar, 3 
(Van Dam). 
Adult female. Like the male. 
Immature. Upper parts inclining to rufous-shaded brown, with small 
white triangular marks at the ends of the feathers of the head and those of 
the back and wings with some white edges; under parts dusky white. 
The Chabert Vanga is confined to Madagascar. 
According to Grandidier’s notes, they mostly frequent the 
small woods on either side of the island, and are rarer in 
the large forests. They are generally to be seen in flocks of 
from twenty to thirty frequenting the tops of the higher trees, 
where they flit from branch to branch in pursuit of insects ; 
their flight is quick. They roost in hundreds on the isolated 
trees. The eggs are green, mottled with blotches of brown 
and rufous, and measure 0°8 X 0°56. Sir EH. Newton remarks 
of this species that, ‘‘in flight it makes tremendous dips,” 
and apparently feeds mostly on caterpillars. The native tribes 
have many names for this bird, for, according to Grandidier, 
it is called by the Betsimisarakas “ Voran-vasatisaty,” by the 
Sakalavas and Antakaranas “‘ Soroanja,’” by the Betsilios, 
the Baras and the Atanalas “ Fantsasatra,” and by the 
Antaimoronas “ Vantsatra.” 
