LANIUS, 209 



Head and back of the neck bright rufous, seasonally duller ; eye streak 

 black or brownish ; a narrow white superciliary stripe ; lores whitish ; wings 

 pale brown, the primaries narrowly edged, and the coverts and secondaries 

 broadly with rufescent ; beneath white ; in some specimens, the young birds 

 especially are rufous white with crescentic marks ; upper tail coverts and tail 

 brown with a rufous tinge in some, the central tail feathers marked with 

 irregular dusky bands ; under tail coverts white. Bill dark brown ; legs dusky. 



Length. 775 inches ; wing 375 ; tail 3-5. 



Uab. Sind, N.-W. Provinces, Peshawar, Kutch, Kattiawar, and Behar, 

 also Punjab, Beloochistan, S. Persia, Arabia, Affghanistan, Khordafan, 

 Tuikestan, and Abyssinia. In Sind it is common as a winter visitant only. 



707. Lanius phoenicuroides, Sever tz, J. F. o. 1873; Gadow, 



Cat. B. Br. Mus. viii. p. 278. Lanius isabellinus (non. Ehrenb\ Wald. t 

 Ibis, 1867, p. 224, pi. v. f. I. (teste Schalow). Otomela phcenicuroides, 

 Schalozv, J. F. 0. 1875, p. 148. 



The following are the distinguishing characters given of this species, which 

 Dr. Gadow has given specific rank to : 



General colour above dingy reddish brown, always with a strong grey hue, 

 darker than L. isabellinus, but not nearly so rufous as Z. cristatus. Crown 

 of the head contrasting with the back, being always reddish brown, " almost 

 as rufous as the tail, which, with the rump, is dark reddish brown with a 

 chestnut tinge, in fresh plumage." (Severtzow.) Primary quills much darker 

 than in L. isabellinus ; in old specimens in breeding plumage blackish brown; 

 3rd to 8th primaries with the basal parts forming a white speculum which is 

 just hidden by the wing coverts. Old males have the under parts almost 

 white ; the flanks and sides of the breast washed with rusty colour, and 

 the under parts never show the strong creamy tinge of L. isabellinus ; white 

 superciliary stripe well developed ; ear coverts deep black ; the whole loral 

 region blackish instead of the small spot seen just in front of the eye in 

 L. isabellinus. 



Adult females are paler, more isabelline grey, and have the under parts 

 dingy ; sides of neck, flanks and the whole breast tinged with isabelline ; 

 superciliary streak creamy and less distinct. 



Length. About 7 inches ; wing 3'4 to 3-62 ; tail 3-3 to 3-4 ; tarsus 0-91 to 

 0*96; culmen O*6 to O'J. 



Hab, Turkestan, where it breeds, migrating to Sind, Beloochistan Kattia- 

 war, Umballa (Punjab) and Hissar. L. speculigerus, Taczan, is yet only known 

 from Turkestan and Afghanistan (Kandahar), and from Central Africa. I am, 

 however, inclined to place it, as well as L. phcenicuroides, as climatic varieties 

 of L. isabellinus. 

 VOL. II. 27 



