ON THE STATUS OF THE GRAY SHRIKE, COLLECTED BY CAPT. 

 BLAKISTON, IN YEZO, JAPAN. 



HY 

 Lf.ONTIARI) STFjNF.r.F.R. 



A lecoiit pnpor by Mr. II, K. ])rossci' (Eciiinilcs on Lm\ivn c.rcvJt'iior 

 5111(1 its Allies<ll)is, J81)LJ, pp. ;)74-3S()), and ospcrially liis icnKiiks on 

 ]). .'>78, on a, certain specimen of <iiay shrike from tlic islninl of Askold, 

 near Vladivostok, in Eastern Siberia, led me to rei'xnmine tlie only rJap- 

 ;incse specimen ever taken, viz, U. S. Nati<mal Miisenm, No. !U)i;}(;, 

 (lilakist., No. J097, 9 ; Moliitze, Yezo, IMarcli 0, 187;i). The two local 

 ities are nearly nnder the same latitude (4.')° and 42"^ N.), and almost 

 laciniif each other acioss the Japanese Sea. 



Mr. Dresser describes the Askold specimen "as liavini;- no trac<' of 

 vermiciil.ations on the nnder parts, nor any trace of brown in the 

 plnmaiic, bnt it has a, sinyh^ alai' l)ar, and has tlu^ rnmi) and npper 

 tail cov(M'ts pnr(^ white," and he considers it "extremely pn/,/lin<»," be- 

 cause, as he says, "in all tin; lar<>e series which I have examined this 

 is (he only s])ccimen I have met with lackint;' the vermiculations on 

 Ihe undcr])arts and all trace of the brown tinge in the plnmaj^e." 

 However, it is plain from his subsequent argument and from the way 

 he (piotes Mr. IJogdanow in regard to the American Ij. hore/ilis, that he 

 believes the latter to be more or less biownish, even (he fully adult. 

 It is evident, then, that he is not acquainted with the adult L. borcalis, 

 which is (]uite as pure gray as L. exeubifor, and if Mr. Dresser in all 

 the large seri(\s he has examined has not seen an adult />. horealis, one 

 might be tem])ted to Ix^lieve that he has not met with the adult 

 L. major {Auctorum ncc Wilkeh), or L. sibiricus, as it is preferable to 

 call it, except the Askold specimen. 



The .hipaiiese specimen above alluded to agrees in every ])ai"ticular 

 Avith Dresser's description of the Askold bird. But, on the other hand, 

 it also agrees most minutely (except outer tail-feather, which is whiter, a 

 character of no value in these birds) with a specimen from Ivussia (U. 

 S. Nat. Mas. No. 08550). Now, Dresser considers the lOnropcan speci- 

 jncns unworthy of even subspecific rank (tom. cit., p. .'{75), bnt, if so, 

 he ought to call the Askold and the Yezo birds L. exeubifor ])ure and 

 simple. I do not think lie will do so; but then tlu', Knssian and 

 the Askold-Yezo birds aic most assuredly identical and indistinguish- 



l'ioi'Ctcliii<4H National Miisiinii Vol. XVI— No. 'JIU. 



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