STRKPEIiA. 



small flocks about Canterbury and lielniore, also about the highlands on the Milson's Point 

 railway-line. On the Blue Mountains, and in tlie South Coast districts, it is exceedingly 

 numerous in June, July, and August, moving about in large flocks, numbering from fifty to 

 several hundred indixiduals. 



The adult birds of this species vary in size, even, sometimes, when shot out of the same 

 flock, the males, which are larger, varying in wing-measurement from 97 to 10-4 inches, and the 

 females from 9 to 9-4 inches; the same variations exist in the length and breadth of the bill; 

 some I have seen with the upper mandible longer and slightly hooked at the tip. 



Specimens from Lord Howe Island, obtained by Messrs. Etheridge and party in 1SS7, and 

 by Mr. E. H. Saunders in the same year, are similar to Australian examples. Among those 

 procured by Mr. Saunders on Lord Howe Island is one with the basal portion of the tail feathers 

 and the under tail-coverts, of a pale fawn-rufous; another has only one side of the basal half, 

 and the tips of the tail feathers, of this colour. The accidental staining of these parts, Mr. 

 Etheridge informs me, is due to the red volcanic soil of the island. Gould's MS. name of 

 ci-issalis, which Dr. Sharpe has adopted for a similar specimen from Lord Howe Island, 

 described and figured by him in the " Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum," therefore 

 ranks only as a synonym of S. gvacnUna. 



The peculiar note of the Pied Crow-Shrike is generally uttered while flying, and the united 

 cries of a large flock of these birds when on the wing, can be heard a considerable distance away. 



Its natural food consists of wild fruits, berries, and seeds; also, insects and their larva. 

 For the latter I have seen them diligently searching ploughed lands and cultivation paddocks, 

 and tearing off with their powerful bills the bark of trees to obtain the insects lurking underneath. 

 The presence of a flock of these birds, while so engaged in dead timber, has often been indicated 

 by the noise made as they jumped on the dead twigs and snapped them off', or by an occasional 

 low, mournful, whistling note. As settlement proceeds, however, and the scrubs and brushes 

 from which they obtain their food are gradually being cleared, these birds freely enter orchards, 

 gardens, and cultivated lands, and commit great depredations among the fruit and cereals. 



Mr. J. A. Boyd informs me that at Eden, New South Wales, this species frequently steals 

 the eggs from his poultry-yard. One he caught in the act was inside a meshed wire fowl-run, 

 when he espied the bird with an egg in its claws. This it flew away with out of the enclosure, 

 but dropped it just prior to Mr. Boyd shooting the feathered pilferer. 



With a specimen of this bird sent for identification, Mr. J. D. Lankester, of Albury, 

 writes under date of loth July. 1895: "This species, known here as the ' Mutton bird,' has 

 been more numerous and destructive than usual. They have attacked the grapes on the vines, 

 and are very persistent when the raisins are on the trays drying. Since then they have destroyed 

 the quinces, and are now eating the olives. Shooting does not frighten them away." During 

 the winter months these birds, when hard pushed for food, are omnivorous, for in July, 1896, 

 Mr. A. E. Hays and a friend saw at Stony Batter near L'ralla, several of them in a killing- 

 yard, feeding on off'al. The stomachs of specimens examined by me during the same month 

 contained skins of wild fruits, berries, and maize, and the heads, legs, and elytra of beetles. 



The Hon. James Norton, LL.D., M.L.C., who has had considerable experience with these 

 birds at his country residence at Springwood, on the Blue Mountains, writes :- •' The food of 

 Stvepcra gyaailinn, consists naturally of berries and fruits. It makes its appearance in summer, 

 often in great flocks, and deals destruction to every kind of cultivated fruit, except the orange 

 tribe and passion fruit. Apples, pears, peaches, and quinces are easily chopped to pieces by its 

 powerful bill. The softer fruits, such as figs, are devoured in a few bites, and grapes are 



* Dept. of Agriculture, N.S.W., Bull. No. i, App., p. 247 (iHgo). 



