from the Vicinity of Foochow. 219 



-/ Lanius ruscATuSj Less. 



T have obtained five skins of this species, all dated De- 

 cember and January. On the 18th of May this year I was 

 up the Yuen Fu with my collector. I was walking along 

 the foot of a low spur covered with thick scrub and small 

 firs, and he on the ridge. I was watching a L. schach, 

 which from its loud cries and restlessness I suspected had a 

 nest in the neighbourhood, when it was suddenly joined by 

 a bird which I felt sure was L.fuscatus. 1 was on the point 

 of crossing over to shoot it, when my man called out that he 

 had found a young Shrike hardly able to fly. I went to the 

 spot and found the bird sitting on a small tree. On catching 

 it in my hand it uttered a loud harsh cry, and the two birds 

 immediately redoubled their outcries, flitting from bush to 

 bush in an excited manner. Just then another native I had 

 with me called out that he had found a young bird. It 

 uttered the same cry on being caught, and the two old birds 

 then flew straight towards us. My collector for the first 

 time saw the dark bird, and said " Black Shrike " (his name 

 for '^ L.fuscatus ") . Having left my gun below, T told him to 

 shoot. It fell, but, most unfortunately, only winged, and in 

 spite of our efl'orts we failed to find it in the thick under- 

 wood. He knows L.fuscatus well, and both he and I feel sure 

 that the lost bird was of that species. There was no other 

 Shrike about that we could see or hear. The circumstances 

 of the case seem to me to be worth recording, though the 

 unfortunate loss of the bird renders the evidence rather 

 weak. L. schach was very bold and fearless, approaching so 

 near that I could have struck it with my hand. 



The young birds had been fed on beetles and grasshoppers. 

 I also found in their stomachs some small bones (? of young 

 birds) . 



The following is a description of these young birds : — 



Head and neck above mouse-colour tinged with brown ; 

 throat and fore neck greyish mouse-colour ; lores, feathers 

 just at the base of the upper mandible, line under the eye, 

 and the ear-coverts black ; back, scapulars, breast, belly, and 

 sides reddish brown, with narrow black bars ; rump un- 



