90 LANIID^E. 



The eggs, four or five in number, sometimes six, are subject to 

 great variation, many resembling those of our English Butcher- 

 bird, L. collurio. 



Male. Forehead black ; centre of crown and nape chestnut ; scapulars 

 white, forming a large white patch on each side ; rump and underparts 

 white ; white alar bar, or speculum, formed by the white outer web of base 

 of primaries. 



Female. Like the male, but markings ill-defined and not so bright. 



Young. Much like young of last, but lighter. Scapulars and rump paler ; 

 plumage vermiculated with dark brown. Length 7^ inches. 



89. Telephonus erythropterus (Shaw). The Hooded Shrike 

 or Tchagra. 



Moorish. Abermat (Favier). 



" This Shrike is nearly as common as Lanius algeriensis near 

 Tangier, and is resident, nesting in bushes twice a year in May 

 or June, and again in November. Their note, which is a kind 

 of whistle, harmonious and well sustained, and very like that of 

 a Blackbird, is usually beard from the middle of some thick bush 

 (where they have a habit of hiding themselves), as well as in the 

 thickest part of trees. They lay about three eggs, of the same 

 shape as those of other Shrikes, but white marked with lines and 

 small spots of ash-brown and russet, mostly at the thick end. 

 The sexes are alike in plumage, and undergo no change."- 

 Favier. 



According to my limited experience, the Tchagra is rather 

 scarce near Tangier, but more plentiful about a day's journey 

 south. On the 25th of April we took a nest in a small tree close 

 to the ground, containing three slightly incubated eggs, which 

 is, we were informed, the usual complement. , The nest was not 

 so compact as that of the Woodchat, containing less grass and 

 dried flowers, being chiefly built of fibrous roots. Mr. Meade- 

 Waldo writes that " when beating for pigs, and these birds are 

 hustled, they dart into a thick bush and sit perfectly still, so that 

 you can look at them from a yard's distance or less ; when 



