THE GREAT, OR ASH-COLOURED SHRIKE. 57 



fish, and smash their strong defence by falling on 

 the rocks beneath. Le Vaillant says this process 

 of impalement is performed in the wilds of South 

 Africa, and remarks, that the spine or thorn was 

 always thrust through the head of the bird or 

 insect, and that the prey was not devoured at the 

 time of capture, but allowed to hang on the 

 branches and shrubs, and was returned to appa- 

 rently when the calls of hunger demanded.* Mr 

 Selby, also, had the satisfaction of seeing our 

 native grey Shrike impale its victim, after hovering 

 over the hedge with the bird (a hedge accentor) 

 in its bill, apparently for the purpose of selecting 

 a convenient thorn. f 



The common Grey Shrike is perfectly typical in 

 its form, and will rank among the larger species 

 of the genus. In length it is about nine inches, 

 appearing more graceful from the graduated form 

 of the tail, though it is in reality a firmly and com- 

 pactly made bird. In the old male, the upper 

 parts are of a chaste and clear pearl grey, while 

 the whole of the under parts are pure white ; these 

 tints are beautifully broken and contrasted, by the 

 deep black of the greater portion of the wings and 

 tail, and by the marking of the same colour which 

 appears on the forehead, the lores, and on the auri- 

 culars, on the latter there is an oval patch resembling 

 in form and situation the distribution of the darker 

 shades on these parts of the falconidae. The wings 



* Le Vaill. Ois. d'Afrique, ii. p. 22. 

 f Selby, Br. Ornith. i. p. 149. 



