ORB. LYSESSORES, 



FAM. LANIAD^. 

 GEN. LAN I US. 



PLATE XVII. 

 LANIUS NIGRICEPS. 



BLACK-HEADED SHRIKE. 



Synon. — L. antiguanus Gmel. ' Piegrieche d' Antigue ' Sonnerat voyage, t. 70. Indian 

 Shrike of Latham, No. 31. L.nigriceps Franklin. L. tricolor Hodgs., Jerdon Catal. 

 No. 51. 



When in Goomsoor some years ago I obtained a single specimen of this Shrike, 

 and Mr. Blyth and Lord Arthur Hay have since procured examples from the same locality. 

 At one time Mr. B. was doubtful whether the Himalayan bird was identical with this, as 

 most of the specimens from Northern India had more rufous on the back than those from 

 central India, but he has recently informed me that he now considers them the same. 

 I have not obtained it myself, nor have I seen specimens, from any other part of the 

 peninsula, and I suspect that it does not occur further South than about N. L. 20°. From 

 thence it extends to the Himalayas, and Eastward to Arracan, and probably still further, 

 as Sonnerat's specimens were procured, he alleges, from the Phillippine isles. The name 

 ' Antiguanus,^ (derived from Antigue, a province of Panay, one of these islands) being 

 liable to lead to error, I have retained Franklin's very appropriate name. The black 

 headed Shrike appears to be a more forest haunting species than its congeners, but 

 does not otherwise, that I am aware of, differ in its habits. Like the other Shrikes it de- 

 scends to the ground for its food, which consists almost wholly of grasshoppers and their 

 larvae. I have not observed in any of the Indian species the reputed habit of impaling m. 

 sects on thorns. 



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