LANIUS.
Plumage of young above and below with wavy lines; these persist in many of females ; perch in exposed positions ; have the habit of impaling prey on thorns ; cup nest in bushes, etc. ; eggs white, varying to buff or pale green, spotted with brown of various shades, often in a zone.
j 9 adult. Above light grey ; forehead and a band from lores to ear coverts black ; wings black, primaries white at base, showing a speculum, 1st primary short, about as long as primary coverts ; tail, two central pairs feathers black with white bases, remainder increasingly white to outer pairs, which are generally entirely white (shafts black); beneath white, breast, abdomen, and flanks tinged rosy colour. Bill, legs and feet black.
Wing S 114-1'23, 9 113-122 ( \V.). Tarsus 24-26. Bill Young : above grey brown with wavy bars, ear coverts dark brown, wing coverts brown tipped white ; beneath creamy white, faintly barred on flanks.
Breeds.—C. and S. Europe (Spain very local ; Germany sporadic except N.W. ; Belgium rare) north to Baltic and Baltic Provinces, C. and S. Russia and across Siberia to Altai ; Caucasus, Asia Minor, Sardinia, and Sicily. Migrates ; occurs Egypt on passage ; winters tropical Africa. Rare visitor to Denmark, Sweden, Holland, and Britain.
Lanius excubitor excubitor L. GREAT GREY SHRIKE. Fr. Pie-grieche grise ; Ger. Grau Wiirger ; //a/. Averla maggiore ; Swed. Storre TOrnskata.
e 9 adult. Above light grey, whitish on scapulars ; wing black, white speculum on primaries, or on both primaries and secondaries, tips of secondaries and inner primaries white, 1st primary half length of and ; narrow eyebrow white, band from lores to ear coverts black ; tail, two central pairs of feathers black, remainder increasingly white to outer, which are entirely white ; beneath white, slightly tinged rosy in autumn, occasionally also in summer. Bill, legs and feet black. Wing 107-116. Tarsus 26-29. Bill I 5-16. Young : duller, brown tinged above, speculum smaller or almost absent, breast with faint wavy bars.
Breeds.—N. and C. Europe, south to Pyrenees, Mountains of Venetia, S. Hungary, in Russia south to Moscow ; and throughout W. Siberia. Occurs in winter British Isles, S.E. France, C. and S. Italy, Balkan Peninsula, S. Russia, Asia Minor and Caucasus. Rare visitor to Faroes, Mediterranean Islands and Spain.
L. excubitor homeyeri Cabanis. More white on forehead, supercilium, scapulars, tips of secondaries, and upper tail coverts ; generally paler grey and intermediate with " przewalskii " of Central Asia. Wing 111-120 (H.).
Breeds.—Rumania, Bulgaria, S.E. Russia to Kirghiz Steppes and Caucasus, north to Orenburg and Moscow ; also W. Siberia. In winter occasional in Greece ; accidental elsewhere in C. and S. Europe.
L. excubitor przewalskii Bogdanow. Much paler even than "homeyeri," with more white on forehead, lores, supercilium and upper tail coverts ; primaries half white ; scapulars and secondaries with white predominating.
A C. Asian race, occurring west to Orenburg ; once in Italy.
L. excubitor moths Eversmann. A browner bird with a single speculum in wing ; rump and upper tail coverts white with in autumn a rosy tinge, and beneath always traces of wavy bars.
A Siberian race, which occurs in winter at Orenburg (Grote).
L. excubitor meridionalis Temminck. Much darker grey above, speculum very small, white eye-stripe reaches base of bill ; beneath rosy, tinged greyish. Wing 8" 102-110, ? 103-108. Tarsus 30-31. Bill 15-16. Young : ashy brown above, below pale with indistinct wavy bars.
and Portugal, S. France. Rare visitor Italy. Has occurred England and Heligoland.
L. excubitor algeriensis Lesson. Adult resembles "merid ionalis" but bill stronger and underparts grey, not rosy ; little or no eye-stripe ; frontal band narrow and black, and more black on lesser wing coverts. Wing 104-112 (H.). In young wavy bars are hardly visible.
Morocco, Algeria and Tunis, north of Atlas. Occurred once Italy.
L. excubitor dodsoni Whitaker. Resembles "algeriensis"
but paler above ; below, varies from grey to bully white ; black frontal band generally absent.
Resident —C. and S. Morocco, and locally in Algeria and Tunis. Distribution is confusing. It appears to penetrate the area of "algeriensis" in W. Algeria, and extends along the Atlas as far as Tunisia, north of range of " L. e. elegans." L. excubitor koenigi Hartert. Smaller than "dodsoni" and " algericnsis," rather darker than former and paler than latter. Bill longer and more slender. Wing j ? 99-105 (H.).
Resident —Canary Islands.
L. excubitor elegans Swainson. Paler grey than other N. African races, resembling typical form ; speculum on primaries often very large ; secondaries mostly white; rump whitish ; under parts very white. Some specimens have some black at base of bill and others have three outer pairs of rectrices entirely white.
Resident.—Algeria south of Atlas Mountains to Egypt, Sudan and Palestine.
Lanius senator senator L. WOODCHAT SHRIKE. Fr. Pie-grieche rousse ; Ger. Rotkopfwiirger ; Ital. Averla capirossa.
d adult. Crown and nape chestnut ; forehead, face, ear coverts, and upper back black ; lower back grey ; scapulars, speculum, upper tail coverts, and base of all but central rectrices white, base of central rectrices black ; beneath bully white. Bill, legs and feet black. Wing ,S 9'2-99, 9 92-95. Tarsus 22-24. Bill 13-14. In 9 black is replaced by dark brown. Young : grey brown, barred ; scapulars, upper tail coverts, and under parts more buff with darker arrow-shaped marks ; margins of secondaries reddish.
Breeds.—Continental Europe south of Baltic, Russia N. to Kaluga Govt., Caucasus, Sicily, Malta, N.W. Africa (Tripoli to Morocco) and south to 33° N. Migratory. Rare visitor to Denmark and Britain ; occurs Egypt and Sahara on passage ; winters tropical Africa.
L. senator nflotieus (Bonaparte). Like typical form, but bases of central tail feathers white.
A \V. Asiatic breeding race ; occurring Egypt on passage, especially in spring ; wintering S. Africa, S. Arabia. Cretan birds seem intermediate (Meinertzhagen).
L. senator badius Hartlaub. White speculum absent or minute in e, generally present but very small in 9. Wing longer on average.
Breeds.—Corsica and Sardinia. Occurs on passage Tunisia and Algeria, and in winter W. Africa.
• Lanius nubicus Lichtenstein. MASKED SHRIKE.
j Above black ; forehead, supercilium, scapulars and speculum white ; beneath white, reddish buff on flanks. Bill, legs and feet black. Wing 86-94. Tarsus 22-24. Bill 11.5-13 (W.). In 9 black is of a brown shade. Wing 85-94. Young : grey brown, scapulars and underparts white, with dark wavy bars.
I? reed .c.—West Persia to Cyprus and Asia Minor, formerly in Greece. Occurs in Egypt on passage. Winters N.E. Africa and S. Arabia. Once occurred England.
Lanius collurio L. RED-BACKED SHRIKE. Fr. Ecorcheur; Ger. Rotriickiger Wiirger ; lied. Averla piccola ; Swed. Brun ryggad Tornskata.
Crown, nape, rump, and upper tail coverts grey ; back, scapulars, and margins of wing coverts and secondaries chest nut ; band from bill to ear coverts black ; rectrices (except central) white on basal portion ; beneath rosy white. Bill, legs and feet black. Wing 88-97. Tarsus 22-25. 13111 12-14. ? Above reddish brown, with or without faint bars, inclining to chestnut on mantle ; beneath bully white with dark arrow-head marks on breast and flanks. Wing 87-96. Bill horn brown. Legs and feet brownish grey. Young barred above and below with dark wavy lines.
; Continent of Europe to about N., east to Urals and south to N. Spanish Mountains and Pyrenees, Italy, Corsica, Sardinia, Greece, Asia Minor to Syria. Migrates ; occurs on passage Shetland, Morocco, Sicily, Egypt ; winters tropical Africa, south to Cape.
" L. c. jourdaini" Parrot from Corsica (duller chestnut on mantle) is not considered separable.