ARTAMUS. 591 



but the throat is light gray ; chin, cheeks, and jaw dark smoky gray ; upper 

 parts light seal-brown with some ocherous.-colored fringes to the feathers 

 of back and inner wing-coverts; upper tail-coverts 'white; primaries, 

 secondaries, and rectrices slate-blue with wide edges of gray or white. 

 Iris brown; bill brown, yellowish along cutting edge; legs and feet 

 blackish ; nails black. 



The nestling down is light buff. 



"The swallow shrike is one of the commonest Philippine birds and it 

 seems probable that this species occurs on every island of the group. It 

 hawks after insects during the day, and may sometimes be seen hunting 

 in great flocks just at sundown. Hundreds often roost together on the 

 leaves of coconut trees. Called 'git-git' and 'ala-git-git' by the natives. 

 We found it nesting in the coconut trees as a rule, but a nest in Negros 

 was placed on the broken top of the trunk of a cotton-tree. The nest 

 is composed of small grass-stems, twigs, and similar materials loosely 

 woven together, and is .lined with fine grass and with fibers from the 

 bark of the cabo negro palm. The cavity of the nest is broad and 

 shallow, measuring 75 to 100 mm. in width and 25 to 40 mm. in depth. 

 The exterior dimensions vary greatly in different nests. Three or four 

 eggs are deposited. Their ground-color is pale creamy white, usually 

 very heavily marked with spots and blotches of very pale lilac and light 

 chocolate-brown. These markings are usually more numerous at the 

 larger end where, in rare cases, they almost entirely conceal the ground- 

 color, while in others they are replaced by fine dots and small spots. The 

 eggs are remarkably uniform in shape. They vary from 22.S to 24.8 

 mm. in length and from 17.2 to 18 mm. in breadth." (Bourns and 

 Worcester MS.) ' . 



This attractive species was found breeding in abundance along the 

 Baco River, Mindoro, in April, 1904. The nests were usually placed 

 among the upturned roots of fallen trees which had become stranded in 

 the river. 



Family LANIID^l. 



Bill strong, .either compressed or at least as high as broad at nostril, 

 never depressed; upper mandible with a notch, or with a notch and a 

 tooth near tip; nostrils partly hidden by antrorse frontal plumes, the 

 shafts of which are produced; wing moderate in length, flat, and some- 

 what rounded; first primary one-half of third or less, the second falling 

 between the first and third ; rectrices twelve, either long, or else moderate 

 in length; front of tarsus covered with distinct plates; hind toe with 

 claw less than culmen from base. 



Subfamilies. 



a 1 . Bill strongly compressed except near base and with a strong tooth and a deep 

 notch near its tip ; shafts of chin-feathers not produced Laniinae ( p. 592 ) 



a*. Bill as high as broad, a slight notch near its tip; shafts of chin-feathers 

 produced Pachycephalinae (p. 599) 



