LANIARIUS MOSSAMBICUS 309 
The Mosambique Boubou takes the place of the West 
African Boubou south of about 10° S. L. from the Nyasa- 
Tanganyika plateau and the Rovuma River to Mashonaland 
and Gazaland. 
The type was obtained by Fischer at Mosambique. It is 
very abundant throughout Nyasaland, where it has been pro- 
cured by Whyte and other collectors. Kirk, Alexander and 
Claude Grant collected many examples along the Zambesi, 
while Marshall and Swynnerton have given good accounts of 
its habits in Mashonaland. 
To the westwards in north-west Rhodesia and in 
Matabeleland this form, which should be considered as a 
subspecies only, becomes slightly larger and paler below and 
merges into L. guttatus. This is clearly shown in examples 
obtained by Bradshaw in the Makalaka country, and by Neave 
in Katanga. 
Alexander (Ibis, 1899, p. 580) writes as follows of his 
experiences with this bird on the Zambesi. “From Tete 
onwards this species is well distributed along the river, for 
hardly a day passed without our hearing its clear-drawn piping 
notes. This Shrike abides in reed-beds, belts of fish-cane, and 
also frequents open land that is interspersed with clumps 
of thick bushes. When we first observed this species at the 
beginning of August, breeding had not commenced, and it was 
shy and difficult to approach. When the breeding time 
arrives the different pairs resort to reed-beds and thick places, 
and lose a good deal of their shyness.” He goes on to 
describe the gruff croak-like call-note of both sexes, and the 
love-note of the male, which is a soft clarion-like whistle 
followed by a sound resembling that of a hammer when 
tapped against a sheet of tin. He further states that they 
often attack and prey on small birds such as Hstrildas. 
Swynnerton says that in Gazaland it is called “ Icivana”’ 
June, 1912, ; 21 
