LANIAD. 49 
with some moss and fibrous roots within, and is 
lined with bents and a few hairs. 
The male Redbacked Shrike is a handsome con- 
spicuous bird. The beak is black, with a notch in 
the upper mandible, like the Great Grey Shrike; 
round the base of the beak black hair-like feathers ; 
a black streak extends from the base of the beak 
round the eyes, including the ear-coverts; forehead 
greyish white; head and neck bluish grey; back, 
scapulars and wing-coverts rusty red; tail-coverts 
same as the head and neck; the two central tail- 
feathers black; the rest white at the base, the other 
part black; throat white; breast and belly white, 
tinged with peach-colour; under tail-coverts white ; 
primary quills dusky, with very slight rusty red 
edges; secondaries and tertials the same, with 
broader rusty red edges; legs, toes and claws 
black. 
The female has the beak dark brown; head and 
neck rusty brown; back, scapulars, wing and tail- 
coverts rusty red, not so bright as in the male; tail 
brownish rusty, with no white; all the quills much 
the same as the male, but not quite so dark; 
throat dirty white; a streak on the side of the 
throat, and all the under parts dirty white, with 
dusky semicircular lines; under tail-coverts dirty 
_ white. 
Young males are like the females, except that 
they have dark semicircular marks on the back as 
F 
