LANIUS GEIMMI. 



(BOGDANOFFS SHRIKE.) 



Lanius grimmi, Bogdanoff, Sorokoputui Russkoi Faunui, p. 151 (1881). 



Figura unica. 

 Bogdanoff, ut supra, pi. iv. 



Ad. capite, collo et dorso pallide cinereis isabellino tinctis : uropygio et supracaudalibus laetioribus et rufescente 

 tinctis : fronte, loris et superciliis sordide albidis : fascia parotica sordide nigra : scapularibus albis : 

 remigibus primariis fusco-nigris, dimidio basali albis : secundariis nigris albo marginatis, et pogonio 

 interne- apiceque albis : rectricibus mediis f usco-nigris albido apicatis, externis fere albis, reliquis nigro- 

 fuscis conspicue albo terminatis : corpore subtus albo, rosaceo-isabelliuo tincto : rostro nigro-fusco : 

 pedibus fuscescentibus. 



Adult (Atrek, July 1836). Upper parts generally dull pale isabelline grey, the rump similarly coloured but 

 slightly rufescent ; lores, forehead, and a narrow stripe passing over the eye dull white ; a large post- 

 ocular patch covering the ear-coverts dull black ; scapulars white ; wings generally as in L. elegans, 

 but the black duller and tinged with brown, the lesser wing-coverts like the back, hut the greater coverts 

 are broadly tipped with dull white, forming a broad transverse bar ; primaries white at the base, forming 

 a white patch about as in L. elegans ; secondaries broadly tipped with dull white ; two central tail- 

 feathers brownish black, narrowly tipped with dull white, the next two similar but more broadly tipped 

 with dull white, the rest black very broadly terminated with white, except the two outermost, which 

 are quite white with a brownish-black shaft ; underparts white, washed with rosy isabelline : bill light 

 horn, darker along the upper part of the culmen and at the tip ; legs brownish ; iris brown. Total 

 length about 8'5 inches, culmen 0'75, wing 4'45, tail 4'5, tarsus 1-2. 



Nestling [fide Bogdanoff). Plumage soft and lax ; upper parts warm sandy grey, with traces of white stripes 

 on the head only ; the back uniformly coloured, the rump and upper tail-coverts darker and tinged 

 with rufous isabelline ; wing-coverts coloured like the back without any white tips ; lores and ear- 

 coverts brownish, the superciliary stripe dull white ; underparts white, with a rosy tinge without any 

 transverse bars, and darker on the breast and flanks ; wings and tail brownish black, the white alar 

 patch wanting on the first five primaries, but as well developed on the sixth to tenth quills as in the 

 adult ; inner secondaries more narrowly margined than in the adult, the margins of the quills and 

 coverts warm sandy isabelline, but the feathers on the carpus are white ; outer tail-feathers white, the 

 rest margined and tipped with sandy isabelline : beak and legs light horn. 



The present species appears to be a desert form of Lanius elegans, as L. mollis and L. funereus 

 are of L. excubitor. Its range, so far as we know at present, extends throughout the desert 

 region from the Caspian eastward to Alashan, and, if Dr. Gadow's determination (of which more 

 presently) can be trusted, southward to Baluchistan. 



According to Bogdanoff (Sorokoputui Russkoi Faunui, p. 158), " Karelin was the first to 



t2 



