LANIUS 245 



especially the head, are less grey. Should I, before completing 

 the present work, be able to examine specimens of these 

 Shrikes, I shall be able to add a few remarks by way of 

 appendix. 



367. GREY-BACKED SHRIKE. 

 LANIUS TEPHRONOTUS. 



Lanius tephronotus (Vigors), P.Z.S. 1831, p. 43 ; Gadow, Cat. B. Br. 

 Mus. viii. p. 260 ; Gates, F. Brit. Ind. Birds, i. p. 465. 



Bhadraya, Bagaha-teutha, Nep. ; Sakrik-pko, Lepch. ; Totem, 

 Bhut. 



<J ad. (India). Upper parts with crown, nape, and lesser wing -coverts 

 dark slaty grey ; rump and upper tail-coverts rufous orange ; wings black 

 narrowly margined with pale rufous ; tail greyish brown, the middle 

 feathers nearly black, all with paler tips ; forehead, a broad band through 

 the eye and ear-coverts deep black; chin, throat, and 1 abdomen white; 

 flanks and sides of the breast ferruginous ; bill black, yellowish horn at 

 base of lower mandible ; legs black ; iris dark brown. Culnien 0'7, wing 

 4-0, tail 4'85, tarsus TO inch. Sexes alike. The young bird is duller, 

 lacks the black frontal band ; ear-coverts dark brown ; under parts dull 

 white, these and upper tail- coverts barred with brown. 



Hob. Himalayas from Kashmir east to the Njan-schan 

 mountains, Kan-su and Western China; wintering in Nepal, 

 Burma, and the plains of Bengal and Assam. 



Frequents gardens, groves, and cultivated ground, and is 

 seldom seen in such open country as its congeners, perches on 

 hedges, bushes, and small bare trees, has a harsh chattering 

 note and appears to be most noisy towards sunset. It breeds 

 in the Himalayas at altitudes of from 5,000 to 8,000 feet, and 

 in the Njan-schan mountains, but there does not appear to be 

 any reliable information as to its nest and eggs. 



368. RUFOUS-BACKED SHRIKE. 

 LANIUS ERYTHRONOTUS. 



Lanius erythronotus (Vigors), P.Z.S. 1831, p. 42 ; (Gould) Cent. Himal. 

 B, pi. 12, fig. 2 ; Bogd. Sorokop. Eussk. Faun. p. 79 ; Gadow, 

 Cat. B. Br. Mus. viii. p. 263; Gates, F. Brit. Ind. Birds, i. 

 p. 464 ; L. caniceps, Blyth, J.A.S. Beng. xv. p. 302(1836) ; Gadow, 

 torn. cit. p. 265. 



Indiski Sorokoput, Russ. ; Mattiya latora, Kajala latora, 

 Hind. ; Yerra belinchi, Tel. 



