66 BUTCHER-BIRD-BUZZARD 



plumage they assume at the breeding-season. Neither in Mada- 

 gascar nor in the Malay Archipelago is there any form of this 

 Family, but Australia possesses one large species already named. 

 From Xenophon's days {Anah. i. 5) to our own, the flesh of 

 Bustards has been esteemed as of the highest flavour. The 

 Bustard has long been protected by the game-laAvs in Great Britain, 

 but, as will have been seen, to little purpose. A few attempts 

 have been made to reinstate it as a denizen of this country, but 

 none on any scale that would ensure success. Many of the older 

 authors considered the Bustards allied to the Ostkich, a most 

 mistaken view, their affinity pointing apparently towards the 

 Cranes in one direction and the Plovers in another. The so 

 called Thick-kneed Bustard is the Stone-CURLEW. 



BUTCHER-BIED, a name that seems at one time to have been 

 in general use, though latterly usurj^ed, except locally, by Shrike, 

 which last was probably ajii^lied by mistake. The former takes its 

 origin from the bird's habit of impaling its prey on a thorn while 

 eating it, and leaving the remains there to decay. A place suitable 

 for this purpose is often used many times, and, reminding people of 

 a butcher's shambles, induced the English name, as Avell as the Latin 

 Laniua, conferred, it would appear, by Gesner. The habit is carried 

 out when the bird is kept in confinement, for it will then fix its food 

 to the wires of its cage. One species, L. excuhifor, derives its trivial 

 designation from the use made of it as a sentinel by falconers when 

 catching wild Hawks. The mode employed is well described by 

 Hoy {Mag. Nat. Hist. iv. p. 342), but can be only briefly mentioned 

 here. The Hawk-catcher lies hidden in a hut, watching through a 

 small hole the Butcher-bird, which is tethered some yards oft', and 

 by its actions not only gives him notice of the approach of a Bird- 

 of-Prey, but also indicates of what kind the stranger is. Thus the 

 sentinel is but slightly troubled" at a 23''^ssing Kite, Eagle, or 

 Buzzard ; but beats itself on its perch Avith screams at the sight 

 of a Harrier, while on the appearance of a Falcon or Sparrow-Hawk 

 it drops with cries of distress into a retreat that has been consider- 

 ately prepared for it. On this the falconer, by pulling long strings, 

 displays first one and then a second tethered Pigeon, and the 

 instant the Hawk clutches this last, draws a bow-net over both, 

 thus securing his prize. 



BUTTON -QUAIL, the Anglo-Indian name for a little bird, 

 Turnix sykesi, and one if not more of its congeners, which, though 

 for a long while confounded with the true Quails, really belong to 

 a very distinct group, Tiirnicidx, and may be more conveniently 

 treated under the title of Hemipode. 



BUZZAED, a word derived from the Latin Buteo, through the 

 French Busard, and used in a general sense for a large gi'oup of 



