LANIIDAE 53 3 



bright green, or sky blue, with smears, dashes, spots, or freckles 

 of lilac and brown. The shy Cracticvs is more arboreal, and eats 

 mice, young birds, lizards, and even crabs, in addition to insects, 

 upon which C. destructor darts like a Flycatcher, impaling its 

 prey subsequently after the fashion of a Shrike. The cry in tliis 

 genus bears a general resemblance to that of the abo^•e forms ; 

 the eggs are equally variable, and may liave zonal markings. 



Sub-fam. 2. Malaconotinae. — These African and Indian birds 

 are commonly black, white, and chestnvit ; Laniaritis, however, is 

 chiefly red, green, and yellow ; Nicator, Neolestes, and several species 

 oi Ptererythrius shew much yellow and green; while Artamia 

 leiicocejyhala is greenish-black, and A. hicolor chietly cobalt, both 

 having the head and under parts white. The feathers of the back 

 are very broad, soft, and fluffy. Vanga, Artamia, XenopirostrU, 

 and Calicalicus are peculiar to Madagascar ; unless ClytorliynchAis 

 2mchycepludo'ides of New Caledonia and the New Hebrides be 

 referred to Xenopirostris. Between X. polleni and Tylas edvardi 

 (Pycnonotidae) a most curious instance of " unconscious mimicry " 

 exists. The retiring members of this Sub-family are commonly 

 seen hopping or climbing about thick undergrowth in search of 

 insects and their larvae, or hunting for worms and spiders on the 

 ground ; they run well and fly fairly, while some forms, as Bryos- 

 copus cuhla. and D. rufiventris, puff' out their feathers until the body 

 resembles a black and white ball. The voice of Laniarius ruhi- 

 ginosus has been compared to that of a Nightingale, and other species 

 utter ringing notes, sweet or melancholy whistles, or at times loud, 

 discordant cries or " churrs." The nest — where known — consists 

 of twigs, grass, wool, hair, and feathers, and contains from three 

 to five greenish-white eggs with brown spots ; it is placed in a bush, 

 or among close-growing plants. The male occasionally incubates. 



Sub-fam. 3. Pacliycephalinae. — This group, which extends 

 from most of Polynesia and Australia to Tenasserim and the Great 

 Sunda Islands, shews brown, black, white, grey, yellow, and olive 

 hues, the yellow being somewhat characteristic. The majority of 

 the members hop actively about leafy trees, or search the ground 

 for insects, their larvae, and berries ; FcdcuncAdus takes short, 

 quick flights, clings to the boughs like a Tit, and often tears off 

 the bark; while Pachycephcda simpilex prefers swampy ground, and 

 behaves like a Flycatcher. Some species have a low, mournful, 

 reiterated note, others a continuous whistle, often ending with a 



