148 CAMPErHAGIN.E. 



Hemipus picatus, Sykes. 



267. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. I, p. 412 ; Butler, Deccan ; 

 Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 393. 



THE LITTLE PIED SHKIKE. 



Length, 5*5 ; expanse, 7'6 ; wing, 2'3 to 2'5 ; tail, 23 to 2'5 ; 

 tarsus, 0'5 ; bill at front, 04 ; bill from gape, 0'7. 



Bill black ; irides hazel ; legs plumbeous-brown. 



Male, above black glossed, less so on the back and scapulars, 

 with a white nuchal collar and white rump ; band on the wings 

 white ; tail with the lateral feathers tipped with white, more 

 broadly so on the outermost feathers ; beneath white, tinged with 

 reddish-ashy, purer white on the throat, vent, and under tail- 

 coverts. 



The female differs in having the upper parts dull sooty brown- 

 black. 



Within our limits the Little Pied Shrike only occurs in various 

 parts of the Deccan and South Mahratta country. I cannot do 

 better than reproduce, in extenso, what Major Butler has written 

 concerning its distribution. He says : 



" Locally not uncommon along the Sahyadri Kange. Mr. 

 Fairbank obtained it at Nagar ; Mr. Laird in the jungles south- 

 west of Belgaum ; Mr. Crawford at Savantwadi ; and Mr. Vidal 

 mentions it from the south of Ratnagiri ; outside of the forests 

 tracts it probably does not occur/' 



SUB-FAMILY, Campephaginae. 



Bill of moderate length, or rather short, rather deep vertically, 

 broadish at base ; culmen arched or curved ; rictal bristles few, 

 feeble ; nostrils basal, in a fossa, partially covered by short plu- 

 mules ; wings of moderate length ; third and fourth or fourth and 

 fifth quills sub-equal and longest ; tail rather long, rounded, or 

 graduated ; feathers of the back and rump often rigid ; tarsus 

 short ; feet weak or moderate. 



GENUS, Volvocivora, Hodgson. 



Bill rather short, broadish at base, compressed at tip, where 

 bent down and notched ; culmen scarcely keeled ; rictal bristles 

 almost wanting ; nostrils basal, oval, partly concealed by tufts ; 

 wings rather long ; third and fourth quills equal and longest ; tail 

 moderate or long, rounded ; upper tail-coverts long ; tarsus short ; 

 feet short ; outer-toe slightly longer than the inner ; claws small, 

 slightly curved. 



Volvocivora sykesi, Strich. 



268. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. I, p. 414 ; Butler, Guzerat ; 

 Stray Feathers, Vol. Ill, p. 464 ; Deccan, Stray Feathers, Vol. 

 IX, , p. 393 ; Lalage sykesi, Strick. ; Swiuhoc and Barnes, 

 Central India ; Ibis, 1885., p. 65. 



