G06 Dr. C. B. Ticehurst on [Ibis, 



Lanius exculjitor pallidirostris Cassin. 



There are various records of this bird in Sind ; in the 

 ' Fauna ' it is stated that there is in the British Museum one 

 from Daulatpur, near Sehwan, and one from Karachi (Gould 

 coll.). Both of these I have examined; the Karachi bird is, 

 I think, undoubtedly correctly named, but I am more tlian 

 doubtful of the other one ; it has a large bill and a black 

 frontal band and a very small amount of grey on the lesser 

 coverts just like many laldora show ; it was obtained in 

 January 1855. There is a third bird from Grhizeree, near 

 Karachi (Gould coll.), which is said to belong to this race ; 

 on examination I find that it is a very worn juvenile just 

 beginning to moult, and so obviously obtained in the hot 

 weather, when one would not expect to meet this race in 

 Sind ; also the lesser coverts which are in the quill are quite 

 black : I think there can be little doubt that this, too^ is a 

 specimen of lahtora. 



This race, which breeds in Beluchistan, is of course not 

 unlikely to occur in winter or on passage in Sind, and would 

 be easily overlooked among the great numbers of the resident 

 lahtora. I did not meet with it so far as I know. 



Lanius vittatus Valenc, " Boro.'" 



The Bay-backed Shrike is common ; eschewing quite bare 

 desert which laldora haunts, it may be met with almost any- 

 where where a few trees and bushes supply its requirements. 

 In sparsely-'wooded parts, such as the scanty desert scrub- 

 jangle met with in many places, it is commoner than erythro- 

 notiis ; but as soon as cultivation or better-wooded parts are 

 entered, the latter more or less takes its place, and Mr.JBell's 

 experience tallies pi'ctty well with mine. Taking Sind as a 

 whole, this species is resident, but I think it is subject to 

 local migration, as it was always commoner round Karachi in 

 winter than in summer ; Mr. Whistler tells me it is a summer 

 visitor only to north Punjab. 



The earliest nest I found was on 22 March with fresh 

 eggs, and I have seen young on the wing on 11 April. It 

 certainly breeds twice, probably three times, as I have found 



