MASKED SHRIKE. 169 



covered in Greece, and described as a new species by 

 Count Von der Miihle, in 1844, under the name of 

 Lanius leucomotopon. 



It was first figured by Temminck as L. personatus, 

 which name was adopted by Schlegel, in his "Revue," 

 in 1844, and which I retain in deference to the natu- 

 ralist whose system of classification I have followed. 

 The genius of the late Prince of Canino, so fertile in 

 adding to our list of names, called it Leucometopon 

 nubicum, erecting a new genus upon the specific name 

 of Count Miihle. Ornithologists must not therefore be 

 confounded in finding the Lanius personatus of 1844, 

 and the Leucomotopon nubicum of Loche's list of 

 African birds in 1858, the same. 



And yet it is, and was, and ever will be, a Butcher 

 Lira 1 , having all the characters and habits of the well- 

 marked genus Lanius. 



The Masked Shrike is an inhabitant of Greece, Nubia, 

 Algeria, Arabia, Abyssinia, and Egypt. We are indebted 

 for all we know about its habits to Lindermayer and 

 Miihle, the Grecian ornithologists. 



According to the former it makes its nest in bushes, 

 in uncultivated ground, or on olive trees; it constructs 

 a circular nest, composed of young leaves outside, and 

 of blades of grass and petals of flowers inside. It lays 

 seven or eight eggs, of a pale greenish grey, washed 

 with a yellowish tint and irregular spots of green black, 

 mixed with others of a green brown at the largest end. 



It arrives in Greece towards the end of April or 

 beginning of May, and leaves with its young towards 

 the end of August. It inhabits the extensive valleys 

 of Greece, and sings very prettily. 



Count Miihle thus describes the "Masked Shrike:" — 

 "A beautiful Butcher Bird, of which I have collected 



