WHITE-PLUMED SHRIKE. 247 



many other distinctions, it differs in the great length 

 and expansion of its wings. This is one of the 

 most certain indications of the type in question; 

 and we find that the longest winged hirds are the 

 swallows, the terns, and the frigate-pelicans. An- 

 other singular feature in the hird hefore us is the 

 bristles at the corner of the mouth, and the stiff 

 feathers which advance forward and defend hoth the 

 front of the head and the base of the bill. There 

 must be something very peculiar in the economy of 

 the bird to require such a defence, for nature has 

 repeated it in the Dasycephalce and several other 

 fissirostral types of the perchers. How much is it 

 to be regretted, that while we are perpetually receiv- 

 ing numerous specimens* of such birds as these 

 from their native regions, they should be unaccom- 

 panied by the slightest intimation of their habits or 

 manners. 



Le Vaillant, who described this singular bird 

 from a stuffed specimen in one of the French 

 museums, conjectures that it lives upon the ground 

 and picks up worms in the same manner as our 

 starlings. The structure of the feet, however, 

 (never attended to in those days) is entirely against 

 this theory; they are obviously adapted for the 

 sole purpose of grasping, but with unusual tenacity, 

 the branches of trees. The soles, as in all such 

 birds, are small, the claws very broad, but un- 



* The Editors of Griffith's Animal Kingdom speak of this 

 as an excessively rare species, and lament the departure of 

 M. Bullock's specimen ! whereas it is one of the most com- 

 mon and well known birds of Western Africa. 



