On the Name for the Woodchat Shrike. 83 



is markedly different from that of Pamir, as can even be 

 observed from Scully^s incomplete observations. He speaks 

 of only four mammals ; and two of them were not observed 

 in Turkestan, viz. a wild sheep peculiar to Tibet and West 

 China {Ovis nahoor), and an antelope {Kemas hodgsoni)^. 

 The other two mammals of Western Tibet probably also range 

 into the Pamir ; they are a marmot {Arctomys, sp.) and a hare 

 {Lepus, sp.) with a bluish grey rump. 



V. — Notes on the earliest available Scientific Name for the 

 Woodchat Shrike. By Howard Saunders, F.Z.S. 



Mr. Seebohm and I have had occasion to examine the syno- 

 nymy of the Woodchat Shrike, with tlie following result : — 



The name most frequently employed until late years is 

 Lanius rufus, Brisson (Orn. ii. p. 147) ; but Brisson's name, 

 although correctly applied, antedates the ornithological era 

 1766, and is therefore not available. Lanius rufus, Linn. Syst. 

 Nat. i. p. 137 (1766), is avowedly based upon Lanius mada- 

 gascarensis rufus, Briss. Orn. ii. p. 178, a Madagascar bird ; 

 so that is out of the question. On turning to Mr. H. E. 

 Dresser's ' Birds of Europe ' for information, the first name 

 on the list (iii. p. 147) is Lanius auriculatus, " Miill. Syst. 

 Nat. Suppl. p. 71 (1766) " [sic]. These citations for title 

 and date, given by Messrs. Sharpe and Dresser (for they 

 were partners in this article) , are both erroneous ; the former 

 should be " Miiller, Natursyst [ems] Suppl. p. 71 ;" and 

 the proper date is 1776. But the godfather of this name 

 appears to be Professor Newton, who, in his 4th edition of 

 YarrelFs Brit. Birds, i. p. 215, employs the name L. auricu- 

 latus, P. L. S. Miiller, giving, it is almost needless to say, 

 the correct reference. The question, however, is whether 

 the bird so named by Miiller is the Woodchat ? 



An examination of the second volume of Miiller's ' Natur- 

 system' shows that he only distinguished two species of 



* Perhaps this is the straight-horned Eas mentioned by Wood on the 

 authority of the inhabitants as occurring in the Pamir. 



g2 



