HOODED SHBIKE. 29 



by Le Vaillant, of the male and female, and the white is of a 

 reddish tint. It is only at a certain age that the upper part of the 

 head of the male becomes black. 



This species was found by Le Vaillant in the environs of the 

 Gamtoos River, and from thence as far as Caffraria, but he did not 

 meet with it in his travels among the Macaaquois. 



An adult male in my collection has the top of the head and nape 

 glossy black; a band of the same, separated from the head by a 

 white and rufous band, runs through the eye. Scapularies, upper 

 wing coverts, back, rump, and upper two tail feathers olive green, the 

 two latter being, with ujDwards of twenty indistinct bands, of a darker 

 colour. Primaries with the outer web rich chesnut brown, forming 

 a complete colouring to the sides of the wings when closed; inner 

 webs sepia coloured; secondaries blackish brown, indistinctly banded 

 and bordered more or less with chesnut brown. Throat and breast 

 white; the rest of the under parts ash grey. Some feathers below 

 the edge of the carpal joint white. Wing lining ashy, with a light 

 Isabel bordering to the inner web above. Tail, with the exception of 

 the two upper feathers, which are described above, black, broadly 

 tipped with white; below black, with four white patches, showing 

 the gradation in size of the feathers. Beak plumbeous brown. Tarsus 

 plumbeous, with five bands of white, which are more or less carried 

 on to the toes. 



The egg figured, taken in Morocco with the skin, measures one 

 inch by six tenths of an inch. It is glossy white, spotted and 

 slightly blotched, principally at the larger end, with plumbeous and 

 two shades of reddish green. It is an unmistakable Shrike's egg. 



The figure of the bird and egg of this species are from specimens 

 in my collection, taken in Morocco, and I am indebted for them to 

 Mr. Savile Keid, of Gibraltar. 



Figured by Buffon under the name of Pie-Grieche rousse a tete 

 noire du Senegal, pi. enl. 479, f. 1, and by Mr. Dresser, B. of E. 



The Lesser Grey Shrike having occurred twice in England, has 

 been figured and described by both Mr. Gould and Professor Newton 

 in their respective works upon the Birds of Great Britain. It is 

 therefore omitted, though with regret, from this edition. 



