Lanius lahtora and its Allies. 291 



from the Canaries in Canon Tristram's and my own collections 

 with the specimens of Lanius fallax in the British Museum, 

 this form is the " Grey Slirike " which inhabits the Canaries, 

 and which has been referred to by authors on the ornithology 

 of those islands as a pale form of Lanius algeriensis. One 

 specimen from Fuerteventura is absolutely identical in every 

 respect with the type of Lanius fallax, except that it has a 

 somewhat shorter wing, as I have ascertained by careful 

 comparison. Lanius fallax is also found in Palestine, and, 

 according to Mr. Gates, in Mesopotamia, Muscat, and 

 Afghanistan, He also refers to the same form a specimen 

 procured by Mr. Blanford in Baluchistan, and another 

 obtained by Lieut. Burgess, probably in the Deccan. 



Lanius fallax, like the other allied forms, is subject to a 

 considerable amount of variation, both as to tint of colour on 

 the upper and under parts, and also as to the amount of grey on 

 the lesser wing-coverts. Some specimens from the Canaries 

 are lighter and others darker ; some have the lesser wing- 

 coverts almost entirely grey, whereas others (especially one, a 

 female, from Guia, Teneriffe, in Canon Tristram's collection) 

 have them black, with very slight grey tips. All, however, 

 differ from L. algeriensis, not only in having the upper and 

 under parts much paler, but also in having a narrow white 

 superciliary stripe, and in having the chin and throat white, 

 and not grey. Specimens from Abyssinia vary somewhat, 

 though scarcely so much as those from the Canaries, and one 

 from Muscat in the British Museum has the lesser wing- 

 coverts entirely grey. Specimens from the Canaries have a 

 shorter wing than those from other localities, the length 

 averaging only about 3*85 to 39 inches. Lanius uncinatus^ 

 from Socotra, is at best a very doubtful species, differing 

 from typical L. fallax merely in having a somewhat stouter 

 and more hooked bill; but there are a good many inter- 

 mediate specimens, and I have no hesitation in uniting this 

 form with L. fallax. 



Specimens of Lanius fallax from Palestine agree closely 

 with dark examples from the Canaries and with Abyssinian 

 specimens, but as a rule they have more black and less grey 



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