SHRIKES 



163 



We next have the Puff-backed Shrikes (Dryoscopus), the 

 first representative of which is the true Puff-back (D. cubla), 

 the male being well known for the beautiful powder-puff 

 like patch of downy white feathers on the back, which the 

 bird can erect at will. In Natal it is sometimes called the 



Fig. 91. — Nest and Eggs of Three-streaked Bush-Shrike. (Photo. 

 Haagner.) 



" Snowball Shrike." General colour, black above and white 

 below. Length, 6| inches. 



It builds a cup-shaped nest of rootlets and fibres, the 

 outside being composed of strips of the palm-like leaves of 

 a Dracena, thickly matted with spider webs, and is always 

 built round the fork or branch on which it is placed. The 

 eggs — three in number — are pinkish-white, thickly speckled 



