188 THE PEKCHING BIKBS. 



The other five species are all very much smaller birds, and are 

 very hard to distinguish from each other, even when in the fully adult 

 plumage. When in the barred plumage of the immature birds, the 

 work of identifying specimens becomes practically impossible. 



The different species may be distinguished thus. Four of the five 

 species are characterized by having red-brown tails. One of these 

 (L. tigrinus) has a blue-grey head and neck, which at once distinguishes 

 it from all the others. The upper parts are red-brown barred with black. 



The other three red-tailed shrikes are L. leucionensis with white 

 forehead, grey head, greyish-brown upper parts, L. superciliosus with 

 ohfestnut head, wings and back, white forehead and white eyebrows, 

 and L. cristatus with the upper parts brown and no eyebrow. 



The remaining species is L. bucephalus, which has a gr-ey tail, 

 chestnut head, and upper back, white eyebrow, a conspicuous white 

 spot on the wing and the lower back grey. In all the species the breast 

 and lower parts are buff. I fcave seen some of these birds nesting in 

 Manchuria. 



The waxwing (Ampelis ganula) comes next to the shrikes. This 

 is an elegant bird with unsually long; wings and a fine crest. It' is of a 

 pretty fawn-grey colour, with a tendency to chestnut on the crest and 

 mauve on the back. The eyes are surrounded with black ; there is a 

 black patch on the throat, and the tips of the dark wing and tail feathers 

 are of a brilliant yellow. The most peculiar characteristic, and the one 

 from which the bird derives its name, is that the secondary wing fea- 

 thers are all tipped with little red waxy appendages, that look almost 

 artificial. In some specimens the tail feathers also have these appen- 

 dages. Waxwings may be seen in large flocks, especially in winter. 

 They feed upon berries, having a great predilection for those of the 

 mistletoe. They are noisy birds, whistling and piping continuously 

 as they search for their food. 



The Japanese waxwing (A. japonica) also occurs, but it is a very 

 much, rarer bird. In this species the tips of the wing and tail feathers 

 are crimson and not yellow. It is also somewhfat smaller than the 

 other. 



In North China there are several members of the thrusE* family, 

 the two commonest of which are Merula naumanni and M. ruficollis. 

 The former is of a greyish brown colour above and dirty white below. 

 The throat and breast are chestnut spotted with black, the tail chest- 

 nut. The latter is slightly the larger, and has more chestnut on the 

 breast, without the spots. 



