HEMIPTJS PICATUS. 
(THE LITTLE PIED SHRIKE.) 
Mumcapa, pkata, Sykes, P. Z. S, 1882, p. 86 ; Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1842, xi. p. 458 ; Gray, 
Gen, Birds, i. p. 263 (1845). 
Ilemipus picatus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1846, xv. p. 305 ; id. Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. ) ; 
Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. p. 123 (1852); Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist 18 4, xni. 
p. 126 ; Jerdon, B. of Ind. i. p. 413 (1862); Holdsworth, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 437 ; Hume, 
Nests and Eggs (Bough Draft), p. 178 (1873) ; id. Str. Feath. 187o, p. 43 , a , 
1874, p. 399; Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 16; Hume, Str. F. 1875, p. 93 ; Bourdillon, i i . 
1876, p. 393; Sharpe, Cat. B.iii. p.307 (1877); Hume,Str.Feath.l878(B.of Tenasserim), 
The Black-and-white Flycatcher, The Shrike-like Flycatcher of Indian authois, The Black 
and-white Hemipus, Kelaart. 
Adult male and female. Length 5'2 to 5'4 inches ; wing 2‘2 to 2‘4 ; tail 2'2 to 2'3 ; tarsus 0 6 , mid toe and claw 
bill to gape 0'65 to 0‘75. 
Iris reddish brown, with a light mottled outer circle ; bill black ; legs and feet blacldsh, claws pa er. i v,o .U- • nn 
Head, hind neck, back, wings, upper tail-coverts, and tail deep black, glossed with green on e ea anc ’ 
incomplete nuchal collar, a broad band across the rump, a bar on the wing forme 7 J' ® ° ^ ® ® niitPT- 
coverts, the edges of the longer tertials and of several of the secondaries, and the termina por ion o . 
rectrices white; the white marking extends up most of the outer web of the lateral tai ea er an . , 
a small spot at the tip of the 4th ; chin, lower part of cheeks, sides of neck, belly , under ai - anc un er 
whitish, passing into the reddish ashy of the lower throat, breast, and flanks. 
Ohs. The northern form of this little Shrike (H. capitalis of M'Clelland) is united with „ 475) 
but kept distinct by Mr. Sharpe, on account of its brownish back. The former contends (^r lea h. J 
that the brown birds are females. 1 have not observed this feature m Ceylon examples, j. 
black as the males ; and Ceylonese birds are identical with examples which I have examine lom ^ male 
Mahabaleshwar, as regards size, colour o£ upper and under surface, and cUstribution o w i e mar tinned 
from Darjiling, in the British Museum, is similar to the Mahabalesh war bird, but as e ai mor . .g 
with white ; but several others from the former locality, which may, perhaps, be ma es, lave ® '^‘PP , • j, jg 
wings, and wing-coverts brown. The latest testimony, however, with regar to enor ‘ , Kuinaon 
contained in Mr. Hume’s admirable paper on the birds of Tenasserim, sh^s that Assam, 8i n , 
specimens of both sexes have brown backs, and that out of ten males goes to wove 
Others, again, from various localities along the Himalayas have the bac b ac^ , an s, Wack head and 
that there ws two different races-the southern with black head and^back. -<1 
brown back, both of which may occur, as Mr. Hume suggests, in the ima ayan is ric s. . Mahabale.shwar 
the larger, measuring in total length from 5-35 to 5-45, and in the 'ving from 2-3 to 2-4. Ihe Mahabale.shi 
example above noticed measures— wing 2-3 inches, tail 2-3, tarsus 0 , i ° ^P® ' , oreen-black, no 
Uemipus obsnirus, Horsf., from Java, is not distantly related to our ir ; i as ^ gg bar of black in the 
bar or white marking on the wing; the upper tail-coverts white, without the tran ve^e bar 
centre of the white patch; tail black, the lateral feathers with an outer and an inner white ed. 
white ; chest washed with grey. 
DistribuHon.-T:h\s little Shrike is dispersed throughout 
is generally more numerous in the Kandyan Province, even at high al ^ ^^^ut Nuwara 
districts than in the low country. Although scarce at Norton Pla n , coffee-districts. 
Elliya, Kandapolla, and m the mam range, and is likewise met south-west it is tolerably 
In the timber-forests and also in the cultivated country near the sea- r xi. • i n i r +i, r + 
in tne timDer-ioie»i.o • j r xr, • +i,p eastern portion of the island, and of the forest- 
plentiful ; and the same may he said of the jungles in the eastern poitio 
