Family Laniid.-e. 5 



and most apathetic bird I ever kept ; once or twice I heard its clear bright whistle, 

 but as a rule it might as well have been stuffed for all the interest it seemed to 

 take in life. 



The Orioles in coniinement do not differ from other insectivors in their pas- 

 sionate love of both mealworms and spiders, and a few of either every da}' are not 

 only wholesome, but tend to tame them if they need it. 



FAMILY LANIID^. 



THE Shrikes or Butcher-birds form a large and well-defined group of birds of 

 somewhat predaceous habits, strong in their bills, but comparatively weak 

 in their claws, which, nevertheless, they use for striking at and grasping 

 their prey. The mandibles are short and thick, the upper one with curved culmen 

 always with a tolerable well-defiued terminal hook, preceded, on the inferior or 

 cutting edge, by a slight sinus, behind which is a prominent wedge-shaped tooth ; 

 the nostrils are oval, lateral, and basal, and there are well-defiued rictal bristles, 

 as in the Flycatchers. 



Dr. Hans Gadow greatly extends the family, to include many types, observing 

 that the diagnosis of the Laniidcv * * as given by Mr. Sharpe * * is applicable to 

 Lanius only : he, however, admits that the family, as defined by himself, contains 

 some very aberrant forms, and I think all naturalists will agree that this should 

 not be the case if there is an}' way of avoiding it. Families, Subfamilies, and 

 genera are conveniences, and the more sharply they can be defined, the more 

 convenient they are ; it is far better to have a small and compact family, than a 

 large and heterogeneous one. 



Dr. Gadow observes in his Catalogue that "The Laniida:, as described in this 

 volume, form neither a group complete in itself, nor are the lines of distinction 

 always drawn closely enough." 



Most of the Shrikes are inhabitants of the Old World : in Great Britain they 

 are represented by the typical genus Lanius alone — a group which contains alto- 

 gether about forty species, four of which have been obtained on our shores, though 

 only two of these appear to breed with us. 



