172 



than May. He returned my type in May, but was too busy to send me the particulars I 

 required, and, taking it for granted that Mr. Pleske's identification was correct, I sent my article 

 to press, having waited till the last moment, and it was duly put in type. Late in July, 

 fortunately before I had issued the present Part IV., I received from Mr. P. Suschkin a separate 

 copy of an article he has just written, describing a new Shrike from the Emba under the name 

 of Lanius elaeagni, in which he states that Professor Menzbier had lent him for comparison both 

 my type of Lanius raddii and Dr. Bianchi's type of Lanius bogdanowi, and that the unification 

 of these two species was undoubtedly an error. L. raddii is, he adds, " much larger than 

 Lj. boqdanowi, has a longer tail, the head is pure grey, lighter in shade than the back, and the 

 back is greyer," but he does not enter into any further details. As, however, his comparison of 

 the two types shows that they cannot be united, my only course was to cancel my article on this 

 species, in which I had adopted Mr. Pleske's and Dr. Schalow's views, and united my species 

 with Lanius bogdanowi, and to replace it by the present article. Mr. Suschkin adds that in the 

 late Dr. Severtzoff's collection there is a specimen of Lanius raddii which agrees closely with 

 my type ; hence it would appear that the range of the present species extends from Transcaspia 

 to Turkestan. 



It appears to me that this Shrike is not very distantly connected with Lanius vittatus, 

 although it differs considerably in several respects, especially in the absence of the rich maroon 

 on the back, the broad frontal line, and the chestnut on the flanks. Last year (Ibis, 1894, 

 p. 383) Professor Menzbier described a Shrike which he considers to be a hybrid between Lanius 

 dichrourus and Otomela karelini, and remarked that he believed my Lanius raddii to be a similar 

 hybrid in worn plumage. This, however, is not the case, as I convinced myself by a comparison 

 of the specimen in question with my bird. On the other hand, I found on comparing my type 

 of L. raddii with Dr. Menzbier's type of Lanius dichrourus (described, Ibis, 1894, p. 382) that 

 these two birds resemble each other so closely that I much doubt if they can be separated 

 specifically. As I then remarked {t. c. p. 385), it differs from L. dichrourus merely in having the 

 upper parts paler and clearer in tone of colour, and in having more white on the tail-feathers. 

 The pattern of the tail is precisely the same as in the type of L. dichrourus ; but in the latter 

 the outer tail-feather on each side has the terminal third black margined with white, whereas 

 in my bird the black is restricted to a line along the terminal third of the shaft, broadening 

 considerably towards the tip. I may best describe my bird as closely resembling a specimen of 

 L. karelini sent at the same time by Prof. Menzbier, except that the tail, instead of being rufous, 

 is similar to that of L. dichrourus, though it has more white on it, and it appears to me very 

 possible that L. dichrourus may prove not to be a good species. Lack of material, however, 

 makes it impossible to settle these questions here ; but as Professor Menzbier informs me that 

 he has a large series of Shrikes from Central Asia, and that he is busy working at this group, he 

 will doubtless throw much light on the subject in his ' Ornithologie du Turkestan.' 



The specimen figured and described is the type, and is in my own collection. It was 

 obtained at Kulkulais, Transcaspia, on the 5th September (24th August, old style), 1886, by 

 Dr. G. Kadde. 



