se 
LANIARIUS ATHIOPICUS 313 
to the lower back of rather varying development ; middle wing-coverts and 
generally the outer webs of the long secondary coverts white, forming a 
conspicuous wing bar, but no white on the secondaries ; inner lining of the 
quills dusky black, under wing-coverts white with a patch of black towards 
the edge of the wing; below washed with rosy pink, paling to whitish on 
the chin and under tail-coverts. Iris brown; bill black, legs dark slate. 
Length 9°75 inches, culmen 0:9, wing 4:2, tail 4:1, tarsus 1:3. Lake 
Chercher, ¢, 12. 1. 99 (Lord Lovat). 
Adult female. Resembles the male, but is smaller. Wing 3:8. Harrar, 
3. 1. 02 (Degen). 
A young bird has the bill more horny brown, especially on the lower 
mandible, and white on the tips of the outer tail-feathers. 
L. ambiguus. Resembling L. @ethiopicus, but generally smaller and 
with less white on the wing; only the middle row of coverts white and not 
the outer webs of the longer secondary coverts. Wing 3°65, Kilimanjaro, 
1884 (Johnston). In other examples the wing varies from 3:4 to 4:0. 
ZL. somaliensis. ‘‘Resembling L. ambiguus, but smaller. Wing 3-2 
to 3:5” (Reichenow). 
A few examples in the British Museum have a white edging to the 
secondaries; one labelled Bejook (Esher) has this on one wing only; another 
obtained by Donaldson Smith in Somaliland has white edges to two 
secondaries on both wings and is practically indistinguishable from L. major. 
There is also a good deal of variation in size, both individually and geo- 
eraphically. Those from Kilimanjaro appear to be the smallest, the wings 
seldom exceeding 3:6. 
The Ethiopian Boubou ranges from Eritrea and Abyssinia 
through Somaliland and British Hast Africa as far as 
Kalmanjaro. 
Gmelin’s description was founded on the ‘Black and 
White Thrush of Abyssinia,” of Buffon, the account of which 
was compiled from a drawing brought to Europe by the 
traveller Bruce; and it is in Abyssinia that it is best known, 
having been procured there by all the early travellers, including 
Riippell, Brehm and Heuglin. 
Blanford, who often met with it during the Abyssinian 
expedition of 1867-8, gives a long account of its habits as 
follows: “A lively and active bird and less skulking in its 
habits than most Bush Shrikes. The male has a most 
