384 LANIUS CANICEPS. 



As our species was entered as L. tephronotus in Kelaart's Catalogue, it may not be out of place to mention, for the 

 information of my Ceylon readers, that this Shrike is a very distinct bird from either of those in question. It is 

 a large bird, with the whig varying from 3-9 to 4-3 inches, and the tail about 5J ; dark grey on the head and back, 

 with the rump and upper tail-coverts dusky rufous ; the wings and tail not so black, but the under surface 

 much as in L. caniceps. 



Distribution. — This large Butcher-bird inhabits the Jaffna peninsula, the extreme north of the Vanni, 

 and the whole of the N.W. coast, from Poonerin to the country between Chilaw and Puttalam, including the 

 islands of Manaar and Karativoe. On the Erinativoe Islands I did not observe it. It does not seem to 

 extend far inland, although it is very abundant on the sea-board. It has been procured by Mr. Hart on the 

 Puttalam and Kandy road as far up as Nikerawettiya ; westward of that about Kurunegala, in the Seven 

 Korales, and in the region along the base of the west Matale hills I searched diligently for it without success. 

 In the Jaffna peninsula it is chiefly abundant about Point Pedro. In the island of Manaar, and on the open 

 bushy plains of the adjacent coast as far south as Pomp-Aripu, it is abundant. Southward of this place its 

 numbers diminish ; and no example has ever, to my knowledge, been procured south of Chilaw, although I 

 observe that Mr. Holdsworth is of opinion that he saw it occasionally in the cinnamon -gardens at Colombo. 

 'I'll,' foregoing species is very common in that locality, but the present bird has not yet been obtained there 

 up to the date of my latest advices from the Colombo museum. 



On the continent the Rufous-rumped Shrike is found in the south of India and up the east coast as far 

 north as the Godaveri river. I do not observe that it has been found either by Messrs. Fairbank or by the 

 authors of the recent contribution to the avifauna of the Deccan, Messrs. Davidson and Wender, in this 

 -region. Mr. Ball likewise does not record it from the coast region north of the Godaveri. It would appear, 

 however, that it has been found in Cashmere and in Afghanistan- — that is, if Blyth's identification of 

 Captain Hutton's specimens was correct. As late as 1873 Mr. Hume incorporates the latter gentleman's 

 notes on its nesting in that region in 'Nests and Eggs;' and I therefore infer that he considers the 

 identification correct. It is also found in the N.~W. Himalayas ; but from intermediate localities, such as Sindh, 

 ( i ir/erat, Sanibhur, or the neighbourhood of Putteghur, it does not appear ever to have been recorded. Jerdon 

 writes of this species, in his ' Illustrations of Indian Ornithology,' 1817, at a time when he considered it 

 distinct from L. erythronotus (for in his ' Birds of India ' lie unites the two), that though " occasionally found 

 in the more wooded parts of the country in the Carnatic, it is only common in the neighbourhood of the 

 jungles of the west coast, and is very abundant on the top of the Nilghiris." Mr. Fairbank says that it is 

 resident on the summit of the Palaui ranges and breeds there. 



Habits. — In its mode of living the present species resembles the remainder of this interesting family. 

 It frequents low thorny jungle, scrubby land, and open places near the sea-coast, which are dotted here and 

 there with clumps of low trees and bushes. AVhcn not engaged in catching its prey it seems to pass 

 most of its time on the top of a shrub, uttering its harsh cry as if it were on bad terms with all its 

 neighbours. It is very noisy in the mornings and evenings, flying about from bush to bush, and is so restless 

 that it is very difficult to approach. There is in its disposition evidently that dislike for the presence of 

 man that characterizes all its congeners with which I am acquainted ; and it decidedly disapproves of his 

 endeavouring to make acquaintance with its habits by even presuming to watch its movements, for as soon as 

 it observes that it is an object of interest it immediately decamps. It feeds on grasshoppers, which it entraps 

 on the ground, and also preys on Mantidae and dragouflies. 



Nidification. — This bird breeds in the Jaffna district and on the north-west coast from February until 

 May. Mr. Holdsworth found its nest in a thorn-bush about 6 feet high, near the compound of his bungalow, 

 in the beginning of February. He describes it as cup-shaped, made of rather slender twigs, and Hned with 

 roots. Unfortunately the young were just fledged at the time he discovered it, and he therefore obtained no 

 information as to the eggs of the species. Layard speaks of the young being fledged in June at Point Pedro, 

 and says that it builds in Euphorbia-trees in that distinct. 



Referring to Mr. Hume's 'Nest and Eggs,' I find it recorded that the breeding-season of this Shrike in 

 ^<>uth India extends from March until July. Concerning its nesting in the Nilghiris, Mr. Wait writes : — 



