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A voyage to Abyssinia, and travels into the interior of that country, executed under the orders of the British government, in the years 1809 and 1810 : in which are included, an account of the Portuguese settlements on the east coast of Africa, visited in the course of the voyage : a concise narrative of late events in Arabia Felix : and some particulars respecting the aboriginal African tribes, extending from Mosambique to the borders of Egypt : together with vocabularies of their respective languages ... / by Henry Salt
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APPENDIX IV.

Additional Remarks on these Birds, communicated to me hy theNobleman in whose Collection they are now deposited.

No. 1. Lanins poliocephalus, or Ash-crowned Shrike.

Length 7- inches. Bill above of an inch, blackish, and much covered withthe feathers of the front; crown of the head hoary livid colour, lightestabout the eyes; a blackish spot on the ears ; a collar of white surroundsthe neck, and covers all the under parts of the body, as also the under tailcoverts, which becomes a dirty white on the belly ; the general colour ofthe back and wings is a brownish black, but a line of white extends alongthe latter, from the point of the shoulder across the coverts and down theexterior web, almost to the shaft of the two tertial quills nearest to thebody ; the remainder are tipped with white, and the rest of the quillfeathers have each a large round spot on the inner web, which stretches inan oblique line across the wing, from the tip of the tertials to nearly theroot of the first quill feather; but this line is not visible unless the wing beextended. The tail is square at the end, the two outermost feathers oneach side are wholly white, the third is deeply edged, and tipped withthe same, but the remaining feathers are only tipped with it, so as to givethe effect of a cuneiform tail of black laid upon a square one of white. Legslightish ochre; claw s brown. The feathers of the head appear a littleinclined to a crest; but from the manner in which the skin had been pressedflat for preservation, it may be doubtful whether they were so in reality. Thetwo specimens seen were precisely similar. Dr. Latham appears to haveconsidered this as very nearly allied to, if distinct from, the Pic Grieschesilencieux of Le Vaillant, Ois. pi. 74. f. 1. and 2. ; but on a strict compari-son of the bird, now that it is set up, with that plate and description, Iconsider this as a distinct species, and have therefore ventured to give it aname. The bill is straightish, with a little curving in at the end, and avery small notch.