THE IBIS. 



ELEVENTH SERIES. 



Vol. IV. No. 4. OCTOBEll 192^. 



XXXIV.— 7A^ Birds of Sliul. (Fart ii.) By Claud B. 

 TiOEHURST, M.D., M.A., M.B.O.U., late Capt.R.A.M.C* 



Lanius excubitor lahtora (Sykes). 



Common and resident ; avoiding better cultivated nnd 

 swampy parts, also forest, the Great Grey Shrike is a true 

 denizen oL* the desert, and may he found anywhere where a 

 few scattered })ushes or euphorbia supply it with a perch. 

 Each bird seems to have its own beat, and resents intrusion 

 from its own and other species. The chief food appears to be 

 beetles and lizards, though doubtless young birds do not 

 come amiss, and Mr. Bell says that the large ant, Mijrmeco- 

 ci/stus lu'vis, is eagerly taken. The only larder I came across 

 consisted of a lizard's head stuck on a thorn of a euphorbia. 

 Nesting begins at the end of February, and the nest is often 

 placed in the top of a euphorbia. 



A series measure: win"" 110-117, tail 117-12'.^ mm. in 

 adults. 



The black frontal line is aUvays present, 4-5 mm. wide, 

 narrower in first winter plumage ; the black lesser wing- 

 covcM'ts are slightly tipped with grey, especially on the 

 carpus, l)ut usually less than in /xillidirosfris. 



* For Part i. niul map, see pji. ■'t'Jt') 'u'2. 

 HKlt, XI. — VOL. IV. 2S 



