SHRIKES. 



57 



insects of various kinds. I have found them most 

 abundant in the Carnatic, the Malabar coast, the 

 Northern Circars, and Bengal ; very rare in the Deccan 

 and Central India. To my great surprise, I found them 

 on the sides of hills, at Darjeeling, on cleared spots up 

 to about 4,000ft. of elevation. 



" I have procured the nest of this bird, situated on a 

 palmyra tree on the stem of the leaf. It was a deep 

 cup-shaped nest, made of grass, leaves, and numerous 

 feathers, and contained two eggs white with a greenish 

 tinge, and with light brown spots, chiefly at the larger 

 end. I see that Mr. Layard procured the nest in Ceylon, 

 where this bird is common, in the head of cocoa-nut 

 trees, made of fibres and grasses ; and it was probably 

 the nest of this bird that was brought to Tickell, as that 

 of the Palm Swift (Cypselus batassiensis). 



" Its flight is elegant and Swallow-like, a few rapid 

 strokes of the wing alternating with a gliding flight with 

 outspread wings, and often in circles, or, when in close 

 pursuit of an insect, rapid and direct. Its cry, which it 

 frequently utters, both when seated and in flight, is 

 plaintive, very like that of the Shikra (Micronisns 

 ladius) but more subdued." "Birds of India," Vol. I., 

 pp. 441-2. 



Colonel W. V. Legge says : " It is exceedingly fond 

 of scattered groves of palmyras close to the sea-shore, 

 resting; on the fronds of these trees when not hawking 

 for insects, and roosting on them at night. It associates 

 in small flocks, perching together in closely packed rows, 

 and sallying out in twos and threes after its food, which 

 it catches on the wing, circling round, and sometimes 

 mounting, with a buoyant flight, high in the air, where 

 it will occasionally soar for a considerable time with 

 outstretched wings. It is always of a most sociable 

 nature ; and when a flock is scattered by the shooting of 

 one of their number, they speedily reunite on a neigh- 

 bouring tree. It is partial to the vicinity of water, as in 

 hawking above the surface of tanks and lakes it finds an 

 abundance of food. In its mode of feeding it resembles 

 the Drongo-Shrikes, beating its prey (which consists 

 largely of beetles) to death on its perch before it swal- 

 lows it. Its ordinary note resembles somewhat that of 

 the Red-breasted Swallow." 



" The breeding-season of the Wood-Swallow is in 

 February and March, both in the north and central 

 -districts. It builds in the former region, to a great 

 extent, in the palmyra palm, placing its nest between 

 the bases of the fronds. A nest which I found so 

 situated in Erinativoe Island was composed of grass and 

 roots, massive in exterior, and rather slovenly put 

 together ; the interior was a shallow cup about 2^in. 

 in diameter, and contained three nestlings. Mr. Bligh 

 informs me that he has found the nest in the hole of a 

 tree situated in a coffee-plantation. 



" Mr. Cripps .... writes of some nests taken in date- 

 trees (Phoenix sylvestris) ; they were built at the junction 

 of the leaf -stem and trunk, though in two instances they 

 were placed on a ledge from which all the leaves had 

 been removed to enable the tree to be tapped for its 

 juice. In every instance the nest was exposed, and if 

 any bird, even a Hawk, came near, the courageous 

 little fellows, says Mr. Cripps, would drive it off. 

 'The nests were shallow saucers, made of fine twigs and 

 graces, and with a lining of the same, and contained 

 two to four eggs each.'" "Birds of Ceylon," Vol. II., 

 pp. 668-9. 



This species was exhibited for the first time at the 

 London Zoological Gardens on March 29th, 1903; being 

 a common bird both in India and Ceylon it is very likely 

 to appear from time to time in the bird-market. 



SHRIKES (LaniidcK). 



The Shrikes or Butcher-birds were placed by Seebohm 

 near to the Crows, but generally they are placed nearer 

 to tlie> Flycatchers. They are birds of somewhat pre- 

 daceous habits with powerful bills, short thick mandibles, 

 of which the upper one has the culmen or ridge curved 

 and terminating in a well-defined hook, preceded on the 

 cutting edge by a slight depression, behind which is a 

 prominent wedge-shaped tooth ; the nostrils are oval, 

 lateral, and basal, and there are well-marked rictal 

 bristles as in the Flycatchers. Being more or less pre- 

 daceous, their food in captivity should be varied with 

 fur or feather, small reptiles or batrachians in addition 

 to insects ; raw butchers' meat should be avoided if 

 possible. 



INDIAN GREY SHRIKE (Lanius laJitora). 



Above grey; paler on rump and upper taiil-co verts ; 

 larger scapulars almost white ; wing-coverts black, the 

 leeser coverts 'broadly edged with grey ; primaries with 

 the basal half white, the terminal half black; inner- 

 most secondaries black tipped with white, the re- 

 mainder tipped and bordered with white, which occu- 

 pies the greater part of the inner webs; central tail- 

 feathers 'black with narrow white tips, the remainder 

 white at base, bordered externally and broadly tipped 

 white, the two outermost pairs having only the shaft 

 black ; a black frontal streak which extends backwards, 

 enclosing the eye, above the ear-coverts, to the sides 

 of neck ; above it an ill-defined white eyebrow-stripe ; 

 body below pure white ; bill black; feet dark horn- 

 coloured ; irides hazel. 



No difference of plumage is recorded for the female, 

 and the sexual distinctions in the bills of Shrikes are 

 slight ; such as they are, however, they are worth 

 noting, the bill of the female being very slightly 

 narrower at the base and broader towards the tip than 

 in the male. Ha'b., India and Afghanistan, not extend- 

 ing northward beyond the great mountain ranges 

 (Gadow). 



Though nearly related to the European Great Grey 

 Shrike, this bird differs in its black forehead and the 

 white on the secondaries. Jerdon ("Birds of India," 

 Vol. I., p. 401) igives the following account oif it: 

 " It affects chiefly low, thin, and thorny jungle, or 

 plains where a few low trees or bushes are sparingly 

 sprinkled. It is not often found in cultivated ground, 

 or near villages. It has the usual habits of the tribe, 

 sitting on top of some low tree, on the _ watch for a 

 cricket, a locust, or for some young or sickly bird to 

 come near. It flies low, near the ground, from one tree 

 to another, and it has a harsh grating cry, but can also 

 sing sweetly; and, it is said, imitates the song of other 

 birds to bring them near. Mr. Phillipps states that he 

 has seen it capture small birds ; and that, in the North- 

 west, it is occasionally trained to do so." 



" I have seen the nest and eggs on several occasions, 

 from February to May. The nest is rather large, deeply 

 cup-shaped, made of "twigs, roots, etc., and lined with 

 hair or cotton, and the eggs, three to five in number, 

 are dull greenish-white, with a few spots and blotches 

 of greenish-brown and light reddish-brown." 



In the second edition of Hume's " Nests and Eggs 

 of Indian Birds," Vol. I., pp. 306-7, we read: "The 

 Indian Grey Shrike lays from January to August, and 

 occasionally up to October, but the majority of my 

 eggs have been obtained during March or April. 



" It builds, generally, a very compact and heavy, 

 deep, cup-shaped nest, which it places at heights of 

 from 4 to 10 or 12 feet from the ground in a fork, 

 towards the centre of some densely growing thorny bush 



