238 LARGE GREY-HEADED BUSH-SHRIKE. 



upon their prey and seize it in their talons. These 

 habits, observed by Le Vaillant in other birds of 

 this genus which is exclusively African may 

 be inferred with certainty from a simple inspec- 

 tion of the structure of the bird before us. The 

 wings are short and rounded, indicating a most 

 feeble flight, while the thickness and breadth of the 

 claws, show that they are not at all formed for 

 seizing or grasping any thing but the branches of 

 trees ; their great curvature, indeed, giving them 

 an unusually firm grasp of such substances, which 

 is further increased by the connexion of the inner 

 toe to half the length of the outer, producing a 

 great breadth to the sole of the foot. 



The size is equal to that of a blackbird; the 

 bill is black, and between that and the eye is a 

 broad white stripe. A mantle of clear slate colour 

 spreads over the head, ears, sides, and upper part 

 of the neck, all the remaining parts above being 

 greenish or yellow-olive; each of the lesser and 

 greater covers, and also the tertials and tail-feathers, 

 is marked at the tip by a cream-coloured spot ; 

 half of the greater quills are also edged with the 

 same colour. The wings are not longer than the 

 tail-covers. The under plumage, from the chin 

 to the vent, is bright and pure yellow, deepest on 

 the breast and paler on the belly. The tail is but 

 slightly rounded ; the legs pale, and the inner toe 

 conspicuously shorter than the outer. 



Total length, 10; bill, from the gape, 1^; 

 wings, 4f ; tail, from the base, 5 ; tarsus, *^ 4 5 . 



