LANIUS ALGERIENSIS 169 



roup;hly speaking, more black and less white in L. alrjeriensis, and vice 

 versa in L. elegans, and these points of difference seem to be fairly 

 constant so long as we confine ourselves to typical specimens. When, 

 however, we leave these, we find the difference between the two species 

 less marked and no longer constant ; and when we come to birds like 

 those occurring in the particular Central Tunisian district I have 

 mentioned, it is absolutely impossible to decide to which of the two 

 species they may belong." 



Referring to what I have written above, I may merely add in con- 

 clusion that should the hypothesis of intermediate forms prove to be 

 the correct one, it would imply that there is but one distinct species 

 of Grey Shrike in Tunisia, which grades from one shade of colour to 

 another, according to its habitat. In that case L. elegans, Swains, 

 being the older name, would have the precedence of L. algeriensis, 

 Less, which would become merely subspecific. For the present, 

 however, there does not appear to be sufhcient reason to depart 

 from the generally recognised acceptance of the two forms of Grey 

 Shrike in question as distinct species. 



In both North Algeria and North Marocco L. algeriensis occurs 

 commonly, as it does in Tunisia, specimens from all three countries 

 being identical. In Central and Southern Marocco, however, a form 

 of Grey Shrike occurs which was described by me as a subspecies of 

 L. algeriensis under the name of L. a. dodsoni {Ibis, 1898, p. 599). As 

 mentioned in my description, this bird differs from L. algeriensis in 

 being paler in colouring, both above and below, without, however, 

 approximating to typical examples of L. elegans, iwm. which species it 

 also differs in the marking of its wings and tail, these being more as 

 in L. algeriensis. That this Marocco Grey Shrike is neither typical 

 L. algeriensis nor L. elegans is certain, neither can it, in my opinion, 

 be referred to any other previously described species. Under the 

 circumstances, therefore, and much as I would have wished to avoid 

 adding another name to the already long list of Grey Shrikes, I felt 

 I had no alternative but to act as I did. 



In Tripoli L. algeriensis does not seem to occur, but this is not 

 surprising, considering the desert character of the country. There is a 

 specimen of L. algeriensis, No. 3,408, in the Eoyal Florence Museum, 

 captured on July 2nd, 1892, at Scandicci, near Florence, by Signor 

 Vincenzo Squilloni, and presented by him to the above Museum. 

 This appears to be the only recorded instance of the occurrence of the 

 species out of North-west Africa. 



