INSESSORES. 179 



thers, felted together, and forming a dense and warm recep- 

 tacle for the eggs ; it was about ten inches in diameter, and 

 about four or five inches in depth. 



The eggs were four in number, of a lengthened form, with 

 a ground-colour of greenish ashy grey, spotted and blotched, 

 particularly at the larger end, with umber-brown and bluish 

 grey, the latter colour appearing as if beneath the surface of 

 the shell ; they were one inch and five lines long by one inch 

 broad. The young assume the adult livery from the nest, 

 and appear to keep in company of the parent birds during 

 the first ten months of their existence. 



The male has the crown of the head, cheeks, throat, all the 

 under surface, scapularies, primaries, and tips of the tail jet- 

 black ; nape of the neck, back, upper and under tail-coverts, 

 and base of the tail-feathers white ; bill dark lead-colour at 

 the base, passing into black at the tip ; legs black ; irides 

 bright hazel. 



The female differs in having the nape of the neck and back 

 grey, and the primaries and tips of the tail-feathers brownish 

 black. 



Genus CRACTICUS, Vieillot 



The members of this genus are universally dispersed over 

 Australia, where they prey upon small quadrupeds, birds, 

 lizards, and insects, which they frequently impale after the 

 manner of the ordinary Shrikes. Their mode of nidification 

 resembles that of the species belonging to the genera Strepera 

 and Gymnorhina, the nest being a large round structure 

 placed among the branches of the trees, and the eggs four 

 in number. A great similarity exists between the species 

 inhabiting New South Wales, Tasmania, and Western Aus- 

 tralia, but the annexed descriptions, with a due attention to 

 the localities, will obviate all difficulty in determining the 

 species. 



N 2 



