290 Mr. H. E. Dresser on 



belonging to the present group to be met with is Lanius 

 meridlonalis, which is easily distinguishable from its allies by 

 its dark upper parts, white superciliaries, vinous uuderparts, 

 dark grey and black lesser wing-coverts, and by having the 

 inner web of the secondaries blackish, slightly margined, 

 with dirty white. This species inhabits only the Iberian 

 peninsula and the south o£ France. In Morocco, Algeria, 

 and Tunis L. meridionalis is replaced by Lanius algeriensis, 

 which differs only in having the underparts dark grey instead 

 of vinous, and in lacking the w^hite superciliary stripe. 



Throughout the whole of North Africa, from Algeria to 

 the White Nile, Lanius eleyans occurs, and its range extends 

 eastwards far into Asia, according to Dr. Gadow as far as the 

 Amoor, but I have not met with specimens from districts so 

 far east as that. This form, like Lanius lahtora, is subject 

 to considerable individual variation in the amount of white 

 in the plumage, and has on these grounds been split up into 

 several species — Lanius assimilis, L. hemileucwus, L. deal- 

 batus, and L. elegans. But after a most careful examination 

 of all the specimens in the British Museum and in my own 

 collection, I cannot find any valid reason for according even 

 subspecific rank to any of them. I have in my own col- 

 lection specimens from North-western Africa which agree 

 closely with all these supposed species. To one of these 

 specimens from Algeria Dr. Gadow refers (Cat. of B. Brit. 

 Mus. viii. p. 251) as being a typical L. elegans, and on again 

 comparing the two specimens I fully agree with Dr. Gadow 

 on this point. Another old bird from Algeria is, I find, in 

 every respect similar to the specimen figured by Dr. Gadow 

 (op. cit. pi. vi.) as Lanius dealbatus. 



Another form, which inhabits North-eastern Africa, is 

 Lanius fallaw , which is a much darker bird than Lanius 

 elegans, has the underparts tinged with grey, the lesser wing- 

 coverts more intermixed with black, and the inner webs of 

 the secondaries much blacker. The western range of this 

 form is, so far as we at present know, as follows : — There is 

 no instance of its occurrence in Africa west of the Nile, but, 

 as I have ascertained from a comparison of eight specimens 



