GKEAT GKEY SHRIKE. 163 



being a strong distinctive character between that bird 

 and his L. excubitoroides. If it is the only one, and he 

 only adduces the additional characteristic of "a darker 

 slate," then it is quite certain that my supposition is 

 right. The description of M. Temminck of his L. 

 meridionalis is (with the exception of the four middle 

 tail feathers being quite black instead of two) precisely 

 corresponding to the figure given by Swainson in the 

 "Fauna," as above quoted. The white mark above the 

 eye is not mentioned in the second edition of the 

 "Manual," but it is in the third. Temminck gives 

 the length of L. meridionalis nine inches, Degland ten. 

 Swainson is most accurate in his dimensions, and gives 

 the length of his bird nine inches and a half. 



Wilson also says of L. Carolinensis that it inhabits 

 the warmer parts only of the United States, as the 

 rice plantations of Georgia and Carolina. 



In the observations above it will be seen that Tem- 

 minck says L. meridionalis only inhabits the countries 

 of the South of Europe. The following is his 

 description of this bird: — 



Adult male. The head, nape, mantle, and back of 

 a very dark ash-colour; a large black band below the 

 eyes, covering the orifice of the ears; throat of a vinous 

 white. All the lower parts of a rather vinous ash- 

 colour, of which the tints are shaded upon the flanks 

 and thighs into a more pure and darker ash-colour. 

 Origin of primaries and tip of secondaries of a pure 

 white; four middle quills of the tail quite black, the 

 others as in excubitor. 



Adult female. Upper part of the body of a dark 

 ash-colour, but always less pure than that of the male; 

 the under parts more shaded with ash-colour, and 

 variegated with dark crescented marks, which terminate 



