WOODCHAT SHRIKE. 



Lanius rufus^ BRISSON. 



Front, ears, sides of the neck, and interscapulars, black ; 

 head and neck above rufous ; spot behind the eye, scapu- 

 lars, wing-spot, rump, and under plumage white. 



Lanius rufus, Brisson, Ornith. ii, p. 199; PL Enl. 9, fig. 2. 



Lanius rutilus, Latham, fyc. Vieill. Ency. Meih. 727 La 



Pie-grische Rousse, Le Vaill. Ois. d'Af. ii. pi. 63. Wood- 

 chat Shrike of authors. 



IT is only after the most minute comparison of two 

 Senegal specimens with others from the continent 

 of Europe, that we are persuaded of their specific 

 identity with the well known Woodchat of our own 

 islands. It is therefore clear that this is one of 

 those migrators which annually quit the scorching 

 regions of Africa for the more cool temperature of 

 Europe. This fact, indeed, we know from personal 

 research, having frequently shot the Woodchat in 

 Sicily during the month of May, when that island 

 becomes, for a short time, the temporary residence 

 of those numerous species which come from the 

 opposite coast. Of all these, however, five only 

 appear to extend their range very far southward. 

 Two of these, the present and the Lanius collurio*, 

 occur through the whole length of Africa; the 

 others are the common bee-eater, the hoopoe, and 

 the golden oriole. 



* Le Vaill. Ois. d'Afrique, ii. pi. 64. 



