ABIAMIBES UMMOBXIS.
WJIarO d e kcb lith j.
ARTAMIDES UNIMODUS.
Slaty-grey Cuckoo-Shrike.
Graucalus unimodus, Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1883, pp. 55, 198.
T h is fine Cuckoo-Shrike is very nearly allied to Artamides cceruleigriseus o f the Aru Islands, like which
species it has buff-coloured axillaries and under wing-coverts. Excepting in this respect, however, the two
birds are quite different; for A . cceruleigriseus is blue-grey instead o f slaty grey, and the male has only the
lores, feathers in front of the eye, the base o f the chin, and the base o f the cheeks black, showing none
o f the black on the throat and fore neck which distinguishes A . unimodus.
The females o f the two species are also d istin c t; for besides the blue-grey colour of A . ccBruleigriseus, the
latter has the lores grey, and no black on the chin or cheeks, whereas in A . unimodus the lores and the base
of the chin and base o f the cheeks are black.
The female bird was shot by Mr. H. O. Forbes in the island o f Larat in the Tenimber group on the 4th
o f August 1882, and the male was obtained in Loetoer, on the mainland o f Timor Laut, in September o f the
same year.
Mr. Forbes informs us th at he found this species frequenting the mangroves along the shores on both
occasions when he procured it.
The following descriptions a re taken from the type specimens kindly lent to us by Dr. S c late r:—
Adult male (type of species). General colour above uniform slaty g rey ; lesser and median wing-coverts
like the b a c k ; greater coverts, bastard wing, primary-coverts, and quills blackish, washed externally with
ashy grey and edged with slaty grey like the back, lighter on the m argins of the p rimaries; upper tail-coverts
like the back, but crossed with dusky bars under certain lights and with more o r less of a subterminal shade
of b lack ; tail-feathers black, barred across with dusky under certain lights, the feathers edged with ashy grey
round the tip s ; forehead slightly shaded with darker slate-colour than the crown; nasal plumes, lores,
feathers round the eye, ear-coverts, sides o f hinder crown, and entire throat and centre of fore neck greenish
black, the lower p art o f this latter washed with slaty grey ; sides o f neck and rest o f under surface slaty grey,
darker on the under tail-coverts; thighs b lack ; under wing-coverts pale fawn-colour or buff with slaty-grey
centres to the feathers, all the lower greater coverts and those near the edge of the wings blackish slate-colour;
quills dusky below, ashy grey on their inner f a c e ; “ bill, legs, and feet black ; iris dark brown ” (H . 0 . Forbes).
Total length 13*8 inches, culmen 1*25, wing 7*65, tail 6‘5, tarsus 1* 15.
Adult female. Differs from the male in wanting the black on the throat and fore neck ; the lores and
feathers in front of the eye, a spot at the base o f the cheeks, and another smaller mark a t the base o f the
chin black; axillaries and under wing-coverts more wholly ochreous buff, less distinctly washed with slaty
grey in the c e n tre s ; thighs grey like the rest o f the under surface; “ iris black ” (H . 0 . Forbes) . Total
length 13*6 inches, culmen l -3, wing 6*2, tail 5 -9, tarsus 1*15.
The Plate represents the adult male and female described a b o v e , o f about the natural size. They are
now in the British Museum.
[R. B. S.]