LARKS. 



PIED BUTCHER-CROW (Cracticus picatus). 



Upper back and scapulars black, but the uppermost 

 of the latter grey at base ; lower back greyish ; rump 

 .and upper tail-coverts white ; lesser and median wing- 

 coverts white, many of them black at base ; greater 

 and primary coverts black on inner web, mostly white 

 on outer web ; flights black, the primaries with a white 

 .spot near base of outer web ; outer secondaries black on 

 outer and white on inner web, three inner secondaries 

 entirely white ; central pair of tail-feathers black, the 

 remainder with broad white tips, some of them with 

 a large white spot at base of outer web ; head and neck, 

 throat and chest black ; a white collar round hind 

 neck ; under surface from chest backwards white ; bill 

 lead colour, black at tip ; feet black ; irides brown. 

 Female not differentiated, but doubtless differing in the 

 character of its bill. Hab., Northern Australia. 

 According to Dr. Gadow, this is only a smaller race of 

 i'. nigrigularis which inhabits Southern and Eastern 

 Australia up to Rockingham Bay. 



Gould observes (" Handbook to the Birds of Aus- 

 tralia," Vol. I., p. 181) : " Gilbert, who found it at 

 Port Essington in considerable abundance, states that 

 it is an extremely shy and wary bird, inhabiting the 

 most secluded parts of the forest, and is as frequently 

 seen searching for its food on the ground as among the 

 topmost branches of the highest trees. In its habits, 

 manners, mode of flight, and in its loud, discordant, 

 organ-pipe-like voice, it closely resembles the other 

 members of the genus. It is usually seen in pairs, or 

 in small families of four or five. Its nest is built of 

 .sticks in the upright fork of a thickly-foliaged tree, at 

 -about 30 ft. or 40 ft. from the ground. The stomach 

 is muscular, and the food consists of insects of various 

 kinds, but principally of coleoptera. " 



Campbell (" Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds," p. 

 302) thus describes the nest and eggs of this species : 

 " Nest. Open, composed of sticks, lined with small 

 twigs and rootlets, and generally placed high in a large 

 tree. Dimensions over all, 6 in. by 4 in. in depth ; egg 

 cavity, 3^ in. across by 2 in. deep." (Le Souef.) 



" Eggs. Clutch, three usually ; inclined to pear- 

 shape or pyriform ; texture of shell comparatively fine ; 

 surface glossy ; colour, light or pale olive-brown, 

 blotched, especially about the apex, with umber and 

 dull brown, with sometimes here and there an ink-like 

 dot. Dimensions in inches of a proper clutch : (1) 

 1.19 x -89 ; (2) 1.18 x .88 ; (3) 1.16 x -86." 



The London Zoological Society received an example 

 of this species, by exchange, in May, 1888. 



LONG-BILLED BUTCHER CROW (Cracticus destructor). 



General colour above dark brownish-ash with darker 

 brown streaks ; a few scapular feathers with whitish 

 patches ; upper tail-coverts white ; wings blackish- 

 brown ; three of the inner secondaries narrowly edged 

 with white on outer and inner webs ; tail black, all 

 except the two central feathers tipped with white on. 

 inner web ; head and neck black ; a white loral patch 

 extending to the eye ; under surface greyish-white ; bill 

 bluish lead-colour, becoming black at tip ; feet blackish 

 lead-colour ; irides dark reddish- brown. Female 

 browner and more dingy, the sides of breast more 

 uniformly tinged with pale brownish-grey ; flanks pale 

 brownish-grey. Hab., South Australia. 



Gould say's ("Handbook," Vol. I., pp. 184-186): 

 " This bird is a permanent resident in New South 

 Wales and South Australia, where it inhabits the 

 margins of the brushy lands near the coast, the sides 

 of the hills, and the belts of trees which occur in the 

 more open parts of the country ; in fact, I scarcely 



know of any Australian bird so generally dispersed. 

 Its presence is at all times betrayed by its extraordinary 

 note, a jumble of discordant sounds impossible to be 

 described. It is nearly always on the trees, where it 

 site motionless on some dead or exposed branch where 

 it can survey all around, and particularly the surface 

 of the ground beneath, to which it makes perpendicular 

 descents to secure any large insect or lizard that may 

 attract its sharp and penetrating eye ; it usually returns 

 to the same branch to devour what it has captured, but 

 at times will resort to other trees and impale its victim 

 after the manner of the true Shrikes ; mice, small birds, 

 and large Plba,*midce. come within the list of its ordinary 

 diet. September and the three following months con- 

 stitute the pe'iiicd of incubation. The nest, which is 

 large and cup-shaped, is neatly formed of sticks, and 

 in some instances beautifully lined with the shoots of 

 the C(i*uai-ina and fibrous roots. Considerable dif- 

 ference is found to exist in the colour of the eggs, the 

 gro'und-colourinig of some being dark yellowish-brown, 

 with obscure 'foLoitahes and marks of a darker hue, and 

 here and there a few black marks, not unlike small 

 blots of ink, while in others tihe ground-colour is much 

 lighter, and the darker markings are more inclined to 

 red and to form a zone round the larger end ; the eggs 

 are generally three in number, one incth and three lines 

 long by eleven lines broad. 



" Under ordinary circuimistaiices this sipecies is very 

 shy and retiring, but at times is altogether as bold, 

 as an evidence of which I may mention that, havling 

 caught a young Eopsaltria and placed it in my pocket, 

 the cries of the little captive attracted the attention of 

 one- of these birds, and it continued to follow me 

 through the woods far more than an hour, when the 

 little tenant, disliking its close quarters, effected its 

 escape, and fliitted away before me. I immedlialtely gave 

 abase, but the Crow-Shrike, which had followed me, 

 pounced down within two yards of my face, and bore 

 off the poor bird to a neighlbourinig tree, and, although 

 I ran to the rescue, it was of no avail, the prize being 

 iborne away from tree to tree, until the tyrant paid the 

 forfe't of his life by being shot for his temerity." 



The first exam-pie of thus sipeaies to reach the London 

 Zoological Gardens was presented in May, 1863 ; a 

 second was deposited in July, 1866, and two others were 

 purchased in 1867 and 1872 ; others were received later, 

 the last specimen recorded in the ninltJh edition of the 

 List being deposited in January, 1894. lit bias also been 

 represented in the Berlin Gardens, and from time to 

 time Miss Hagenlbeck, of Hamburg, has imported speoi- 



CHAPTER V. 



LARKS (Aln,,r,,l,i>). 



The Larks represent a small family, of which about 

 seventy-three distinct species are recognised. These 

 are distributed into no less than twenty-one genera. 

 With one exception they are confined to the Old World, 

 six species being recognised as having a claim to the 

 title of British bird. 



Larks are mostly powerful fliers, with long, wide, and 

 pointed wings, the males usually having the first long 

 flight feathers more developed than the females, and 

 the 'breastbone, with the pectoral muscles, consequently 

 deeper and more powerful. On the earth these birds 

 progress by walking. They never wash, but cleanse 

 themselves by squatting on the ground and throwing 

 dust or sand through their feathers, after the manner 



