LANIID^. 143 



Prionops Retzii, Andersson, Birds Damar., Proc. Zool, Soc. 1864, 



p. 5. 



Finsch & Hartlaub's Vogel Ost-Afrika's, p. 366. 

 Sharpe's Cat. No. 471. 



When encamped in the desert, a few days' journey 

 south of the Okavango, I for the first and only time 

 observed this fine Shrike. The flock consisted of six in- 

 dividuals, an adult male and female and four young 

 birds of both sexes, all of which I secured after much 

 running and dodging, as they were exceedingly wary and 

 watchful, always perching on the loftiest and most ex- 

 posed trees, in which respect they differed from the pre- 

 ceding species, though they resembled it in the manner 

 in which they were feeding when I first saw them. 



The iris in the present species is light orange ; in the 

 adults the ring round the eyes is orange-red, and the bill 

 is of the same colour, paling oif towards the extremities ; 

 the legs pale orange ; the toes yellowish. In the imma- 

 ture birds the colours of these parts are similar, but paler. 



The following description of the plumage is taken from 

 an adult female: The entire head and neck, throat, 

 breast, and belly are glossed with dark green ; the auricu- 

 lars are rather brown ; the back, rump, and upper wing- 

 coverts slaty brown, shading into brown-green on the 

 upper tail-coverts ; the tail dark brownish bottle-green, 

 but with the rectrices (except the two centre ones) 

 broadly tipped with white, which extends for about an 

 inch on the outer vanes of the two lateral rectrices. 



The under tail-coverts are white, and so long as nearly 

 to cover the dark portion of the tail; the wings are 

 brown, but some parts of the outer vanes are glossed 



