286 On the Ornithology of Wilts \_Laniad(B]. 



from the very marked and distinct tooth near the point of the upper 

 mandible, rendering the beak a very powerful instrument for the 

 destruction of small creatures: but in truth they partake both of 

 the habits of the preceding raptorial families, and also of the next 

 family, the flj^catchers; for on the one hand, in addition to their 

 savage sanguinary disposition, they reproduce castings formed of 

 the elj'tra and other hard parts of coleoptera: on the other hand, 

 like the flycatchers, they often sit watching on the bare branch of 

 a tree, or on a post or railing, whence their vision can extend over 

 a considerable range, and whence they can dart after any passing 

 insect or small quadruped or bird : they will often hover too in the 

 air above the branch on which they are about to alight; and when 

 sitting watchfully on a bough they will frequently jerk the tail ; in 

 both which last mentioned habits again they much resemble the 

 flycatchers, to which they are considerably allied. They prey on 

 mice, small birds, grasshoppers, beetles, and other coleopterous in- 

 sects ; and these they will impale, (as soon as caught) on some thorn 

 or pointed stake, which they thus convert into a temporary larder: 

 for this strange and cruel custom no very satisfactory reason has 

 been given; though some have attributed it to the greater facility 

 it presents for tearing in pieces their prey, and this seems not im- 

 probable when we contrast their slight limbs and feeble feet with 

 the strong legs and sharp claws of the hawk tribe, so conducive to 

 this purpose: others again assert that the insects so placed on the 

 point of a thorn are intended as baits to attract other victims, and 

 this is the opinion entertained generally, perhaps not without rea- 

 son, by the American naturalists, (who have better opportunities of 

 studying their habits,) for it is notorious that the shrikes will often 

 kill and impale, apparently from sheer wantonness, destroying many 

 more victims than they can consume, and leaving them transfixed 

 on some thorny bush ; they are extremely bold and strong, and will 

 often attack birds as large as themselves ; they are also very fierce, 

 and when wounded, will bite almost as severely as a hawk : they 

 are the terror of all small birds, for whose nestlings they are ever 

 on the watch, and these will sometimes band together to mob and 

 drive them away, as they do the owl on occasions. The name they 



