i6 3 6 



THE PERCHING BIRDS 



entirely of the stalks of a small gray flower. As a rule, the eggs are bluish gray 

 in ground color, spotted and blotched with dark gray and brown. Captive speci- 

 mens will eat not only insects, but likewise small frogs; and, in default of thorns, will 

 hang their prey on the crossbars of their cage. The adult male has the crown of 

 the head and lower neck bright chestnut; the forehead and ear coverts jet black; the 



WOODCHAT, MASKED, AND HOODED SHRIKES. 

 (One-half natural size.) 



scapulars and rump pure white; the wings and tail black and white; and the lower 

 parts white, slightly tinged with buffish red. 



The masked shrike (L. nubicus}, represented in the left-hand figure 

 of the illustration above, is a Nubian species, which passes the 

 summer in Greece as well as the northern parts of Africa. It arrives in the Morea 

 at the commencement of May, and proceeds to take up its quarters in cultivated 



Masked Shrike 



