GREAT GHEY SHRIKE. 



PASSERES. 



199 

 LAN II IKE. 



Lanius excubitor, Linnaeus*. 

 THE GREAT GREY SHRIKE. 



Lanius excubitor. 



Lanius, Ltnnreunf. — Bill short, thick and straight at the base, compressed ; 

 upper mantlible hooked at the point, with a prominent tooth ; base of the bill 

 beset with hairs directed forwards. Nostrils basal, lateral, oval. Wings of 

 moderate size ; the first cjuill-feather shorter than the second, the third the 

 longest. Tarsus longer than the middle toe, which is united at its base to the 

 outer toe. 



The Great Grey Shrike, the largest British species of 

 the genus is a regular but not very common winter visitor 

 to this country. On a few occasions it has been seen during 

 summer ; yet it has never been ascertained to breed here, 

 — though it commonly does so in Holland, Belgium and 

 northern France, and the large size of the nest and the 

 variable colour and markings of the eggs of the Red-backed 

 Shrike have in some instances led to the belief that they 

 belonged to the Great Shrike. 



* Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 135 (1766). 



t Trm. cit. p. 134. 



