6 The Great Grev Shrike. 



Some authorities consider the Shrikes to be uearlj^ related to the Crows ; in- 

 deed Seebohni made them a Subfamily close to tlie Corvi)ia, although he admitted 

 that their "exact affinities are very difficult to determine"; he considered that they 

 approached the Crows in the form of their bills, the strong bristles, and short 

 feathers partly covering the nostrils, and in their feet. Howard Saunders, from 

 the position which he assigns to them in liis }ilanual, seems to regard them as 

 more nearly related to the Flj-catchers.* 



Faiuiiv^LAXIILKl-:. 



The Great Grey Shrh^e. 



Lauius txciibilor, LiNN. 



ORNITHOLOGISTS differ in opinion as to whether this biixl is distinct from 

 Pallas's Grey Shrike (with the single white bar on the wing) : Seebohm con- 

 sidered the two forms as distinct as the Carrion and Hooded Crows, but 

 Mr. Howard Saunders brought forward sufficient evidence to show that they had 

 but little claim to the title of separate species. In his Manual we read : — " Many 

 of the specimens obtained in winter have a white bar on the primaries only, the 

 bases of tlie secondaries being black ; whereas in the typical L. cxcubitor the 

 bases of the secondaries are white, and the wing exhibits a double bar. The form 

 with only one bar is the L. viajor, of Pallas, and, as shown by Prof. Collett (Ibis, 

 1886, pp. 30-40) it meets and interbreeds with L. exaibiior in Scandinavia, t3'pical 

 examples of both races being actually found in the same brood, while intermediate 

 forms are not uncommon. Where the sexes have been determined, the double- 

 barred bird has generally proved to be a male, and the single-barred a female. 

 Dr. Hartert does not regard L. major as a distinct species. Typical L. excubitor 

 breeds as far east as St. Petersburg, beyond which, in Siberia, L. major 



* See also Loixl Lilford's iiole at end of account of the Woodchat-Shrike. 



