498 RARE BRITISH BIRDS 



grey-brown spots and underlying shellmarks. Average size of 100 eggs, -89 x '66 in. [22'8 x 16'9 

 mm.]. Incubation is said to last 14 to 16 days, and is apparently chiefly performed by the hen, 

 the cock relieving her in the morning. Nests may be found in Spain from April 20 onward, 

 but chiefly in May, and probably only one brood is reared in the season. [F. c. R. j.] 



CORSICAN-WOODCHAT [Ldnius sendtor bddius Hartlaub. Sardinian-woodchat]. 



1. Description. Closely resembles the continental form of the woodchat described above, 

 but is easily recognised by the white bases to the feathers of the wing and by the broader black 

 frontal band. The sexes differ in the same way as the last mentioned. Length 7 in. [178 mm.], 

 [w. P. P. and T. w.] 



2. Distribution. This race breeds in Corsica and Sardinia commonly, and migrates through 

 Algeria and the Sahara to the coast of West Africa, from the Gold Coast to the Niger. 

 Possibly an occasional bird may remain to breed in Algeria, as one was obtained near Lambese 

 on May 5 (Hartert). Has occurred once in the south of England, at Romney Marsh, Kent, 

 June 1909. [F. c. B. J.] 



MASKED-SHRIKE [Ldnius nubicus Lichtenstein. Nubian-shrike]. 



1. Description. Recognised by the white forepart of its head and its black back. The 

 sexes are different in coloration. Length 7 in. [178 mm.]. Adult male hinder part of the head 

 black ; rump and middle pairs of tail feathers black, glossed with blue, outer pairs white with 

 black shafts ; forepart of head white, extending in a line over the eyes ; scapulars white ; 

 primaries black on their terminal half and black on their basal half; secondaries black, 

 margined on the inner web with white ; throat white, extending on to the sides of the neck ; 

 chest and sides of the body and thighs light chesnut, darkest on the latter ; middle of the 

 belly, under tail-coverts, and axillaries white. The female is similar to the male, but all the 

 black parts of that sex are brownish black, [w. p. p. and T. w.] 



2. Distribution. Formerly this species bred in Greece, but now it is apparently extinct 

 there. It nests commonly in Asia Minor, and also in Cyprus, Palestine, and South-west 

 Persia. In winter it migrates to South Arabia and East Africa, from Egypt, Nubia, to Fashoda 

 and Lake Rudolf, and has once been recorded from south of England, at Woodchurch, Kent, 

 July 1905. [F. c. R. J.] 



[SotJTH AFRICAN- BULBUL [Pycnonotus capensis]. Is said to have been shot near Waterford, 

 Ireland, in 1838 ; was no doubt an escaped bird. [F. c. R. J.] ] 



THE FLYCATCHERS 1 



[ORDER : Passeriformes. FAMILY : Muscicapidce] 



COLLARED-FLYCATCHER [Muscicapa colldris Bechstein. French, gobe-mouche a collier ; 

 German, Halsband-Fliegenschnapper ; Italian, pigliamoche a collare bianco]. 



1. Description. Resembles the pied-flycatcher, but differs in having a ring of white 

 feathers round the neck. The sexes are dissimilar. Length 5 in. [127 mm.]. Adult male 

 hinder part of the head, cheeks, ear-coverts, mantle, back, and tail black ; base of the forehead 

 and a ring round the hind-neck white ; primaries and secondaries black, white on their basal 

 half; the whole of the under surface, including the axillaries, pure white. The adult female 

 differs from the male in being brown instead of black above, and the sides of the face, cheeks, 

 throat, breast, and sides of the body ochraceous brown, shading into white on the middle of 

 the belly and under tail-coverts, [w. P. P. and T. w.] 



1 Vol. ii. p. 261. 



