394 RHODOPHONEUS HILGERTI 
Wells in western Kordofan are figured in the Catalogue of 
Birds’ Eggs of the British Museum; they are greenish-blue, 
sparsely spotted and blotched with rufous-brown and lavender, 
and measure 1°05 x 0°73. 
Rhodophoneus hilgerti. (Pl. 54, fig. 1.) 
Pelicinius cruentus hilgerti, Neum. Orn. Monatsb. 1903, p. 182 Sheik 
Hussein ; Erlanger, J. f. O. 1905, p. 695 Somaliland ; Reichen. Vog. 
Afr. iii. p. 833 (1905) ; Witherby, Ibis, 1905, p. 519 Somaliland. 
Laniarius cruentus, Bannerman, Ibis, 1910, p. 302 Somaliland. 
Male. Differs from R. crwentus only in the upper and under parts being 
a shade darker, the crown and mantle strongly washed with red, and in the 
red of the throat and chest more extensive, and generally extending in the 
males on to the chin, ‘Iris brown; bill black; legs grey” (Hawker). 
Total length 10:0 inches, culmen 0:9, wing 3:6, tail 4:8, tarsus 1:20. 
Godgul, g, 27. 1. 98 (Hawker). 
Female. Also resembling that of R. crwentus, and distinguished by the 
pink wash of the upper parts and by the darker and more extensive 
cinnamon of the flanks. Wing 3°6 inches. Sheikh, 1. 2. 97 (Lort 
Phillips). 
Hilgert’s Rosy-patched Shrike is confined to Somaliland. 
It is very nearly allied to R. cruentus, which it replaces in 
Somaliland, and it is not known from beyond the limits of that 
country. In its more northern range Sir Alfred Pease met 
with the species in the low country often in family parties of 
from eight to ten individuals, and Erlanger procured specimens 
at Zeila, also in the Ennia and Arussi Gallalands and at 
Umfudu on the Juba River. Mr. Lort Phillips writes (Ibis, 
1896, p. 77): “This lovely Bush-Shrike is to be met with in 
all open spaces on the Goolis, as it seems to avoid the thickets 
altogether. It is far from shy and may be seen towards sun- 
down in small parties, going through the most ridiculous 
antics. They chase each other solemnly round and round 
some big stone with outstretched wings and tail, or else perch 
on a dead bough, bob up and down to each other, and all the 
