GREY SHRIKK 



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few small roots and twi^s, and lined with hair and a sprinkling of 

 feathers, may be found alike in garden shrubberies and in woods. 

 The four to six eggs are generally distinguishable from linnet's eggs, 

 but when they are smaller than usual, it is difficult to distinguish 

 between the two. 



Grey Shrike '^'^^ shrikes, or butcher-birds, represent a large and 

 (Lanius exeubitor) ^^i^^^'y spread family (Laniidse) of somewhat un- 

 certain serial position, of which the definition is by 

 no means an easy matter, although the British forms are easily charac- 

 terised. There are ten primary wing-quills and twelve tail-feathers, 

 and there is but a 

 single annual moult ; 

 the nostrils, which 

 are clear of the line 

 of the forehead, are 

 more or less thickly 

 overhung by bristles 

 and bristly hairs ; 

 and in the more 

 typical forms the 

 beak is strongly 

 hooked, with the cut- 

 ting-edge of the upper 

 half strongly notched. 

 Very distinctive of 

 the group is the 

 cross-barring of the 

 plumage of the nest- 

 lings, generally on 

 both upper and lower surfaces. The members of the typical genus 

 Lanius range over the greater part of the world, exclusive of Australasia 

 and South America. All are insectivorous. 



In the grey shrike, which measures about 9^ inches in length, the 

 general colour of the plumage of the upper-parts is pearl-grey, and 

 that of the lower surface white ; a line through the eye, the greater 

 portion of the wings, and most of the tail-feathers are, however, black ; 

 while, on the other hand, the forehead, a line above the eye, the 

 scapulars, the bases of the wing -quills, and the greater part of the 

 outer tail-feathers are white. The plumage of the hen is duller in tone, 

 with the breast more or less thickly marked with crescentic greyish 



2 P 



MOUNTED IN THE ROWLAND WARD STUDIOS 



GKKY SHRIKK 



