INHABITING THE PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGO. 171 
In an early phase of plumage, but after the otherwise full plumage has been adopted, 
L. nigriceps closely resembles L. erythronotus, the crown of the head changing to 
black after the forehead has become black. 
72, Lantus Luctonensis. (Pl. XXIX. fig. 1.) 
La Pie-griesche de Lucon, Briss. Orn. ii. p. 169, no. 11, “Isle de Lucon.” 
Lanius lucionensis, Linn. 8. N. i. p. 135, no. 10 (1766), ex Briss. ; Walden, Ibis, 1867, p. 215; 
Salvadori, Atti Ac. Sc. Torino, 1868, p- 273; Swinhoe, P.Z.S. 1871, p. 376. 
Lanius jeracopis, De Fil. Mus. Mediol. Aves, p. 31 (1847), fide Salvad. 1. c. 
Lanius phenicurus, Pall., O. Finsch, Verh. zool.-bot. Gesellsch. Wien, 1872, p. 258, no. 16, partim. 
Hab. Negros, Guimaras, and Zebu in March; Luzon in J anuary (Meyer). 
Were it not that an ornithologist so distinguished as Dr. O. Finsch had quite recently 
(2. ¢.) called in question the right of this Philippine Shrike to rank asa distinct species, 
it would have been unnecessary to do more than enumerate it in this list. ‘The latest 
and most valuable contribution to the history of the rufous-tailed Shrikes we owe to 
Mr. Swinhoe (/.¢.). That gentleman had collected an unusually large series of indi- 
viduals, which, together with the knowledge acquired during a long residence in 
Eastern Asia, entitles his opinion to the greatest weight. Mr. Swinhoe admits as 
distinct species L. cristatus, L. superciliosus, Lath., and L. lucionensis, L.; and he has 
given the probable general lines of their separate annual migrations’, 
These three species, when in adult plumage, are quite unmistakable ; but when im- 
mature their specific differences are less staiking. Yet Dr. O. Finsch (1. c.), after a study 
of the following meagre and insufficient materials—an adult and a young female ex- 
ample from Java (L. superciliosus), a young or female individual from Madras (L. cris- 
tatus), and a young or female bird captured fifty miles out at sea, off the Luzon coast— 
has arrived at the conclusion that all three belong to one species, which he terms 
L. phenicurus, Pall.’ It may therefore not be superfluous to give the characters which 
distinguish the three species when in full plumage. 
LL. superciliosus, Lath. (L. phenicurus, Pall. ap. Schrenck; Walden, Ibis, 1867, pl. 
y. fig. 2), has the entire upper surface very bright wniform rufous, a very broad 
' Although my investigations lead me to generally concur with Mr. Swinhoe’s remarks on this branch of the 
question, in one particular Mr. Swinhoe appears to have been misled by Mr. Blyth’s statement that Z. lucio- 
nensis occurs in Ceylon, It appears to be now pretty well ascertained that L. cristatus only is found in Ceylon, 
and that the ashy grey plumage, sometimes observable in that species and in LZ, superciliosus, was the origin 
of the erroneous identification. The occurrence of L. lucionensis in the Andamans has been confirmed since 
it was asserted by Mr. Blyth) Mouat’s, « Andamans,’ 1863, App. Zool. pp. 352, 360) by Mr. Ball (J. A.S. b. 
1872, p. 280, no. 21); and I have also lately received Andaman examples of this species. 
* L. cristatus, Linn., is the only species of which I have seen examples from Lake Baikal. More to the 
eastward in Siberia, Z. superciliosus, Lath., may perhaps find its northern limit. Mr. Swinhoe (J.c.) states 
that examples from the Amoor, Amoy, and Malacca agree; and I still incline to the belief that L. phenicurus, 
ap. Schrenk (Reisen Am. i. p. 384), is Latham’s bird. The evidence we possess fayours the opinion that L. 
phenicurus, Pall., was described from an example of Z. cristatus, Linn. 
