GREAT GREY SHRIKE. 158 



111 the old male, the upper mandible is black, with a 

 projecting tooth near the point of the beak, which is con- 

 siderably curved ; under mandible yellowish brown at the 

 base, becoming brownish black at the end ; the nostrils hid 

 by black hairs : the lore, or space between the base of the 

 beak and the eye, black ; the same colour passing by a nar- 

 rower band under the eye, and then expanding, forms a 

 black oval patch which covers the orifice of the ears : the 

 irides very dark brown ; the head, neck, back, wing and tail- 

 coverts, pearl grey ; the scapulars tipped with white ; wing- 

 primaries and secondaries black, with a white bar near the 

 base of each feather, which, when the wing is closed, form 

 two white spots ; the secondaries are also tipped with white : 

 the upper surface of the four central feathers of the tail 

 black, the next feather on each side tipped with white, the 

 next one-fourth white, the next one-third Avhite, the next 

 or outer tail-feather almost wholly white ; the tail graduated. 

 The chin, throat, sides of the neck, the breast, belly, flanks, 

 thighs, and under tail-coverts, pure white ; under wing- 

 coverts white ; under surface of wing- primaries dusky grey, 

 inclining to slate grey ; under surface of tail-feathers less pure 

 in colour than the upper surface, but equally defined in the 

 markings ; the legs, toes, and claws, black. 



Females resemble the males, except that the colours of 

 the plumage are not so pure, and the dull white of the breast 

 is marked with numerous greyish semilunar lines. 



Young males resemble the females. 



The whole length of the Grey Shrike is ten inches. Length 

 of wing from the Avrist-joint, or carjnis, to the end of the 

 longest primary, four inches and three-quarters ; first wing- 

 feather only half as long as the second ; the second shorter 

 than the third, fourth, or fifth, which are nearly equal, and 

 the longest in the wing ; the sixth but very little longer than 

 the second. 



