594 BRITISH BIRDS. 
Genus LANIUS. 
The genus Lanius was established in 1766, by Linnzus in his ‘Systema 
Nature,’ i. p. 135, for the reception of a heterogeneous collection of birds, 
many of them belonging to different and somewhat distantly connected 
families. From this motley group Cuvier removed the Tyrant Shrikes in 
1801 ; and Vieillot restricted the genus to its present dimensions in 1816, in 
his ‘Analyse d’une nouvelle Ornithologie élémentaire,’ p. 40. Vieillot 
designated le Pie-Griéche grise (Lanius excubitor) as the type. 
In the genus Lanius the bill very closely resembles that of a Falcon, 
but is elongated like that of a Crow, the upper mandible being strongly 
hooked and deeply toothed; the nostrils are partly hidden by short 
feathers and stiff bristles like those of the Crows; the wings and tail are 
very variable. 
This genus contains about forty species. It is well represented in the 
Nearctic, Palearctic, Ethiopian, and Oriental Regions, but is apparently 
absent from the Australian and Neotropical Regions. Six species are 
found in Europe, one of which is a regular summer visitant to the British 
Islands, whilst four others are only accidental stragglers to our shores. 
The Shrikes are birds closely resembling the Raptores in many of their 
habits. They are solitary birds, and frequent the outskirts of wooded 
districts and the bushes on commons, usually perching on the topmost 
twigs, like Flycatchers, to secure their food, which consists of large 
insects (beetles) and, more rarely, small birds, mice, frogs, and lizards. 
They have the peculiar habit of spitting their captures on thorns or 
placing them in the forks of branches, for the purpose of securing them 
while they pull them to pieces. Their call-notes are harsh; but many 
species are possessed of considerable musical powers. They build some- 
what bulky open nests, placing them in bushes and tall hedgerows; the 
nests are constructed of twigs, rootlets, the stems of plants, sometimes with 
the flowers attached, and are lined with hair, wool, and feathers. Their 
eggs are very characteristic, boldly spotted with brown of various shades 
on a ground-colour varying from nearly white to buff or pale green. 
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