PASSERINE BIEDS OF CEYLON. 91 



(1) Length 7*75; bill comparatively weak; 

 males : head black, back slate gray ; 

 females : upper plumage uniform brown- 

 ish-gray. 



Campophaga sykesi (Black-headed Cuckoo 

 Shrike). 



(2) Length 10*25; bill massive; sexes almost 



similar ; upper plumage almost uniform 

 slate gray. 

 Graucalus macii (Large Cuckoo Shrike). 



Lanius schach erythronotus. 



The Rufous-hacked Shrike. 



Lanius erythronotus (Oates, Vol. I., p. 464) ; Lanius caniceps 

 (Legge, p. 383). 



Description. — Forehead and a broad band through the eye 

 to the ear coverts black ; crown, nape, hindneck, sides of neck, 

 back, and scapulars pale gray, with a white edging, more 

 pronounced in some birds than in others, adjoining the frontal 

 band ; the ends of the scapulars more or less tinged with pale 

 rufous ; rump, upper tail coverts, and flanks rust colour ; 

 wing coverts and wing quills black, more or less edged with 

 white or pale rufous, this is most noticeable on the inner quills ; 

 the edge of the wing and a band at the base of the inner 

 primaries white ; the three central pairs of tail feathers black, 

 the rest brown with paler edges ; chin, throat, and upper breast 

 white ; abdomen and lower tail coverts tinged with rust 

 colour. 



In young birds the upper plumage is pale sandy, darkening 

 into rufous on the rump, and with wavy bars of brown ; the 

 central tail feathers are brown, tipped with rufous, and the 

 band through the eye is blackish -brown. 



Bill black ; iris hazel ; legs and feet blackish-brown. 



Length 9; wing 3-6; tail 4*5; tarsus 1*05; bill from 

 gape "9. 



Distribution. — Restricted to the Jaffna peninsula and the 

 north-west of the Island. The species ranges over the whole 

 of the Indian Empire to China and the Malay Archipelago, 

 and is divided into various geographical races. 



