1638 THE PERCHING BIRDS 



The shrikes of the genus Pericrocotus possess a bill shorter than the 

 nive s head, moderately broad at the base, hooked and notched; the nostrils 

 are concealed by the frontal plumes; the wing is long and pointed; the tail long and 

 greatly graduated; and the feet are short and comparatively feeble. Mr. Gates 

 points out that the members of this genus are remarkable for the stiffened shafts of 

 the feathers of the rump. The mini vets are peculiar to India and Eastern Asia; the 

 Siberian minivet, inhabiting Manchuria in the summer time, and migrating through 

 China to winter in the Philippine islands and the Malay Peninsula, being the hardi- 

 est of the family. It is gray above and white below, but the majority of minivets 

 are gaudy in their attire, scarlet and yellow predominating in their plumage, or at 

 least in that of the male bird, for the females are less gorgeous. The brilliantly- 

 colored Indian scarlet minivet (Pericrocotus speriosus), like other members of its 

 genus, is arboreal in its habits, and lives in family parties, which fly briskly about 

 the branches of their favorite trees in active pursuit of their insect prey. The call 

 note of the species is lively and frequently repeated. Nesting in April, this minivet 

 constructs a beautiful cup-shaped nest of moss trimmed with lichens, which is 

 placed in a slender branch. In color the eggs are grayish white, marked with brown 

 and inky purple. The adult male has the whole head, back, and scapulars glossy 

 black; the lower surface from behind the throat, together with the rump and upper 

 tail coverts are vivid scarlet; while the wings are black, barred with scarlet; and the 

 tail is scarlet except the middle pair of feathers which are black. 



The number of genera included in the Shrike family renders it im- 

 possible to allude to all, and we can consequently refer only to a few. 

 Among these the pied shrikes (Hemipus) of India and Malaysia differ from the true 

 shrikes by the broad and flattened beak, in which the edge of the upper mandible is 

 merely notched near the tip, in place of being strongly notched and toothed. The 

 wood shrikes ( Tepkrodomis) , of which there are three Indian representatives, are 

 distinguished both from the preceding genus and the true shrikes by the squared 

 tail; the general color of the plumage being gray. The Australian piping crows 

 (Gymnorhina} , which are here placed among the Crows (p. 1495), are by some 

 writers included in the present family; and the same is the case with Struthidea (p. 

 1495). On the other hand, the crow shrikes (Strepera) of Australia are more gen- 

 erally referred to the Corvida; but Dr. Sharpe places the whole three genera in the 

 Laniube. There is also some difference of opinion as to whether the cuckoo shrikes 

 (Campophaga and Graucalus], which range from India to Australia, are likewise 

 members of this family, Dr. Sharpe referring them to a distinct family (Campopha- 

 gidtz), while Mr. Gates places them here. Agreeing with the minivets in their 

 spiny rump feathers, the cuckoo shrikes differ in having the tail but moderately 

 instead of greatly graduated, while the outer feathers are more than three-quarters 

 (instead of less than half) the entire length of the tail. 



