THE SHRIKES. 39 
where he is red, and also has a yellow throat and fore- 
head ; her wings and tail are brown where the male’s are 
black, and her crown and back of a grey-green hue. 
With the Minivets it is common to see one red bird with 
a small flock of yellow ones—no doubt the old pair and 
their brood ; the natives, however, put a different inter- 
pretation on it, and call one species the ‘‘ beloved of 
seven damsels. ’’ 
I have seen the Short-billed Minivet in confinement, 
brought down from the hills in consignments of small 
birds from thence; but the Minivets did not do very 
well; being true insect-feeders they need a great deal of 
care, and I do not recommend anyone to keep them 
except with a view to export. Such lovely and harm- 
less creatures surely deserve introduction into any 
country where they could live if turned out at large. 
The nest of this bird, like those of Minivets generally, is 
cup-shaped, made of fine twigs coated outside with 
lichens, and placed rather high up in a tree, the Minivets 
being thorough tree-haunters, and not coming to the 
ground as many Shrikes do. The eggs are three to five in 
number, spotted with red and purple on a whitish ground 
In the Himalayas the bird breeds in May or June. 
THe Piprnc-Crow SHRIKE oR AUSTRALIAN MacGpie 
(Gymnorhina tibicen)* is a Shrike of an entirely different 
type again, of which we have no representatives in 
India; but as it is frequently imported, it deserves a 
notice here. This ‘‘Magpie’’ only deserves its name by 
reason of its pied plumage; in form it rather resembles 
the common House-Crow, which it equals in size. Its 
