84 On the Name for the Woodchat Shrike. 



European Shrikes, which he named L. excuhitor and L. col- 

 lurio, the adult male of the latter being, at most, imperfectly 

 known to him. In the Supplement, p. 71 (1776), he named 

 a third, ''Die schwarzohrige '' (the Blackeared), Lanius 

 auriculatus ; and the following is an exact translation of his 

 description : — 



" The name is given because this bird has a long black 

 spot behind the eye on each side, which gives it the appear- 

 ance of having black ears. For the rest the back is whitish 

 grey. 



" It is the Piegrieche rousse of Buffon ; for a certain variety 

 has a red breast. Habitat Europe."" 



Now by no elasticity of description can the back of the* 

 Woodchat be termed grey. The shoulders are chestnut, like 

 the nape and crown ; the mantle is black ; and the only grey 

 to be discovered is on quite the lower part, or rump. The 

 black ear-patch is found in the adult males of all the Euro- 

 pean species ; so that portion of Miiller^s diagnosis is useless. 

 He goes on to identify his L. auriculatus with the Pie-grieche 

 rousse of Buffon. On turning to the ' Planches Enluminees/ 

 plate 9. fig. 2 is a perfectly recognizable representation of 

 a male Woodchat, in which the back, right down to the 

 upper tail-coverts, is entirely black, and the breast is buflF- 

 white. On pi. 31, fig. 1, which is in the background, is 

 called Pie-grieche rousse de France, femelle, but is really the 

 female of L. collurio. On the same plate, in the foreground, 

 although numbei'cd 2, is a representation of the adult male 

 L. collurio, in which the back, with the exception of the 

 mantle, really is grey. There is, however, no proof that 

 Miiller identified his bird with Buffon^s from either of these 

 plates, or even that he ever saw them ; nor does Buffon's 

 description make matters at all clear. My impression is, 

 that by L. auriculatus Miiller meant L. minor, which has the 

 grey back, the black ear-patch, and the rosy breast ; but all 

 I maintain is, that there is no good reason for applying this 

 name to the Woodchat, and that the sooner it is altogether 

 discarded the better. 



Next in order amongst the synonyms comes Lanius 



