1870.] 



Observations regarding some species of hm 



117 



257. Lanius erythronotus. — I wonder whether Mr. Blanford 

 got hold of either Lanius caniceps or teplironotus. It is curious how 

 often these three species are confounded, yet they are really 

 very distinct, as the subjoined comparative table will show : — 





Frontal 

 band. 



General colour 

 of upper parts. 



Extent of rufous 

 on upper sur- 

 face. 



Colour of tail 

 feathers. 



L. erythronotus, ... 



From 0-1 " 

 to 0-3" in 

 width. 



Somewhat pale 

 ashy grey. 



Whole lower 

 back, rump, up- 

 per tail coverts 

 and longer sca- 

 plars. 



Central tail 

 feathers black,or 

 blackish brown, 

 laterals brown, 

 with a grey tint. 



L. caniceps, 



Ditto. 



Ditto. 



Rump and up- 

 per tail coverts 

 only. 



Ditto. 



L. tephronotus, ... 



Almost 

 entirely 

 wanting. 



Somewhat dark 

 ashy brown. 



Ditto. 



Central tail 

 feathers deep 

 rufous brown, 

 laterals growing 

 paler as they 

 recede from the 

 centre, all ru- 

 fous brown. 



Besides this, caniceps has the middle portion of the abdomen right 

 down to the vent white, while in erythronotus the lower portion of 

 the abdomen, the feathers above the vent, are bright ferruginous. 



460. Otocompsa fuscicaudata. — This species extends northwards 

 to Mt. Abu, where I found it very abundant; specimens there 

 obtained are in every respect identical with those from Conoor 

 (Nilgherries). In Oudh and in Bengal, this species is replaced by 

 Otocompsa emeria, and east of the bay of Bengal by 0. jocosa — Mr. 

 Blanford says, that he has never met with an Otocompsa in Cen- 

 tral India ; I presume he means of the jocosa type, with red whis- 

 kers, because 0. leucotis occurs, though rarely both, in Saugor and 

 Hoshungabad. 



4G7. Iora Zeijlanica. — This species and typltia are one and the 

 same species. I have more than 100 specimens from all parts of 



16 



