CHARACTERS OF LANIUS EXCUBITORIDES 563 



CH. SP. 3 $ Plumbeocanus, in/via, albus ; fronte et fascia 

 laid per latus capitis duotd, oculum amplectante, cum alls cau- 

 ddque, nigrin^ his albo notatis ; scapularibus et tectricibus cau- 

 dalibus superioribus albis. 



$ 9 , adult : Leaden-gray or light slate color, whitening on the scapulars 

 and upper tail-coverts. Beneath white, slightly shaded with the French 

 gray on the sides, but without dusky vermiculation. A narrow stripe across 

 the forehead, continuous with a broad bar along the side of the head, em- 

 bracing the eye, black, slightly, if at all, bordered with whitish. Lower 

 eyelid not white. Wings and tail black, with white markings, much as in 

 the last species. Bill and feet plumbeous-black; length usually under 9 

 inches ; extent, 12-13 ; wing and tail each about 4 ; bill, f ; tarsus, 1 or more. 



Young : Vermiculated below with dusky, upon a brownish ground, about 

 to the same extent as is seen in very old examples of C. borealis. General 

 tone of the upper parts less pure than in the adult ; scapulars and tail-cov- 

 erts not purely white; black bar of head less firm, but as far as it goes 

 maintaining the characters of the species. At a very early age, the upper 

 parts, including the whitish of the scapulars and tail-coverts, is finely ver- 

 miculated with dusky waves. The ends of the quills, wing-coverts, and tail- 

 feathers often have rusty or rufous markings. 



There will be no difficulty whatever in distinguishing this species from 

 the preceding by the foregoing description. Only the young birds are ver- 

 miculated below like C. borealis. The species shades directly into the partic- 

 ular form of the South Atlantic States (ludovicianus), which is darker and 

 otherwise somewhat peculiar on an average. 



DURING the greater part of the year, and ill nearly all por- 

 tions of the United States, the smaller species of Shrike 

 replaces the Northern Butcher-bird. The true Loggerhead has 

 been supposed to be confined to the South Atlantic and Gulf 

 States, and the White-rumped variety to range over the rest 

 of the country, especially the West 5 but I have gradually 

 become satisfied that no such trenchant line can be drawn 

 between the supposed habitats of the two varieties. With 

 every desire to be precise in this matter, we need not be 

 " holier than the Pope ", nor attempt to establish distinctions 

 that have no actual existence in Nature. It is certain that the 

 two alleged species grade into each other by insensible degrees j 

 and the same is true of the geographical areas they respect- 

 ively inhabit. I am not aware that anything but typical ludo- 

 vicianus by which I mean the extreme of small size and dark 

 color, little, if any, relieved by hoariness occurs in the South 

 Atlantic and Gulf States ; but "ludovicianus" has been quoted 

 from such remote quarters as New England, Oregon, and 

 Mexico, and I have examined different specimens from Ohio, 



