338 SYSTEM A TIC SYNOPSIS. — PA SSERES — OSCINES. 



9.00-10.00 ; extent 13.50-14.50 ; wing 5.00-5.50 ; tail rather more ; bill 0.75 ; tarsus 0.90 ; 

 middle toe aud claw 0.75. Youug: Tlie colors much less pure and clear. Above, grayish- 

 brown, scarcely or not whitening on the scapulars, tail-coverts, and forehead. The younger 

 the browner, sometimes almost with a rusty tinge; grayer according to age. Below brownisli- 

 white (the younger the browner), the wavy dark markings stronger than in the adult. The 

 bar along the head poorly defined, merely dusky, or ([uite obsolete. Wings and tail brownish- 

 black, with less white than in the adult. Bill plumbeous-brown, flesh-cok)red at base below. 

 At a very early age, the upper parts are prubably vermiculated somewhat like the lower, as 

 in the same stage of L. ludovidanm ; but this state I have not observed. In old age^ the 

 dusky vermicuhition of the under parts is much diminished, but I have never seen it absent 

 altogether. This feature, coupled with the particular character of the head-markings and 

 the large size and comparatively short tarsi, will always distinguish the species from L. ludo- 

 vicianus or excubitorides. N. Am., northerly ; breeds, however, on mountains of the Middle 

 States and in New England ; in winter, usually extends S. to about 35°. The castle of this 

 ''feudal banm and brigand bold" is built in a bush or low tree with a basement of sticks, 

 upon which is matted and felted a thick warm superstructure of bark-strips, grasses, and soft 

 vegetable substances: eggs 4-6, about 1.10X0.80, rather elliptical in shape, so profusely 

 speckled, scratched, and marbled with reddish, brownish, and purplish shades that the greenish- 

 gray ground color is scarcely perceptible. 



187. L. ludovicia'nus. (Lat. ZwriowcmMMS, of Louisiana.) Loggerhead Shrike. (J 9, adult: 

 Above, slate-colored, slightly whitish on upper tail-coverts and ends of scapulars ; below, 

 white, sometimes a little ashy-shaded, but no wavy black lines, or only a few slight ones ; 

 white on wings and tail less extensive than in borealis or excubitorides; black bridle meeting its 

 fellow across forehead, not interrupted by white on lower eyelid, scarcely or not bordered above 

 by hoary white. Smaller: length 8.00-8.50; wing and tail each 4.00 or little more; tarsus 

 at least 1.00, thus relatively longer than in borealis ; bill about 0.50. Young : diflfering from 

 the adult much as young borealis does, and decidedly waved below, as in that species : but the 

 size and other characters are distinctive. Eastern and Southern U. S., resident, abundant; in 

 its typical manifestation it is characteristic of the S. Atlantic States ; but specimens more like 

 ludovicianus than excubitorides occur N. to New England and W. to Ohio. 



188. C. 1. excubitori'des. (Lat. excubitor, a sentinel ; Gr. elbos, eidos, resemblance ; i. e., like the 

 European L. excubitor.) . White-rumped Shrike. Common American Shrike. ^ 9 1 

 adult : Leaden-gray or light slate-color, whitening on the scapulars and upper tail-coverts. 

 Beneath, white, slightly shaded with the French gray on the sides, but without dusky vermicu- 

 lation. A narrow stripe across the forehead, continuous with a broad bar along the side of the 

 head, embracing the eye, black, slightly, if at all, bordered with whitish. Lower eyelid not 

 white. Wings and tail black, with white markings, much as in the last species. Bill and feet 

 plumbeous -black. Length under 9.00 ; extent 12.00-13.00 ; wing and tail, each, about 4.00 ; 

 bill 0.06 ; tarsus 1.00 or more. Young : Vemiiculated below with dusky, upon a brownish 

 ground, about to the same extent as is seen in very old examples of L. borealis. General tone of 

 the upper parts less pure than in the adult ; scapulars and tail-coverts not purely white ; black 

 bar of head less fiTTn, but as far as it goes maintaining the characters of the species. At a 

 very early age, the upper parts, including the whitish of the scapulars and taU-coverts, are finely 

 vermiculated with dusky waves. The ends of the quills, wing-coverts, and tail-feathers often 

 have rusty or rufous markings. Extreme examples of excubitorides look very different from 

 ludovicianus proper, but the two are observed to melt into each other when many specimens 

 are compared, so that no specific character can be assigned. Middle and Western N. Ann. 

 and Mexico ; N. to the region of the Saskatchewan, E. to Ohio, New York, Canada and 

 even New England. 



