28 



L A N I U S. 



of the neck, and breast, are dull white, passing into 

 yellowish on the belly and toward the vent feathers. 

 The tail is long and strong, and a little rounded at 

 the extremity ; it is of a dusky colour, not quite so 

 dark as that on the head, neck, and quills ; and the 

 rump feathers and upper tail coverts are still paler, 

 dusky, and mottled with white. Altogether it is a 

 very handsome bird, and perhaps it is to be regretted 

 that it does not visit the country in greater numbers, or 

 more regularly; for, on account of its activity and great 

 power of wing, it cannot fail to be a great destroyer 

 of insects, and as such very serviceable to vegetation. 



CAROLINA SHRIKE (L. Carolinensis). This bird 

 bears a considerable resemblance to the larger shrike 

 of America, but it differs so much in size, in colour, 

 in locality, and in habits, that it must be considered 

 as a distinct species. Both are migratory birds, and 

 appear in the United States only during the summer, 

 retiring to more southerly climates as the severe 

 weather sets in. The greater shrike, however, takes 

 up its summer abode in the northern and middle 

 states rather than in the southern ; while the species 

 now under consideration, though abundant in the 

 southern states, very rarely appears in the northern. 

 The rice plantations, on the damp and fertile grounds 

 in Carolina and Georgia, are its principal haunts, arid 

 it is protected by the growers 01 rice as a bird which 

 renders them essential service. The service which 

 it renders is the destruction of mice, which are parti- 

 cularly injurious in those places. It takes its post on 

 the fence enclosing the stacks of rice, watching with 

 the same keen and persevering eye as a cat, and the 

 instant that a mouse makes its appearance the bird 

 darts upon it with the rapidity of lightning, and 

 despatches it. Its feeding is not exclusively confined 

 to mice, for it feeds on crickets and grasshoppers, and 

 many of the larger insects, which both as larvae and 

 in the full grown state, are highly injurious to the 

 crops. On this account it is an exceedingly valuable 

 bird ; and indeed there are very few birds so valuable 

 to the cultivators of vegetables as those which clear 

 the crops of destructive insects, and therefore it be- 

 hoves all cultivators to understand well the nature 

 and the food of those birds which come about their 

 grounds ; for there are many indiscrimate destroyers 

 of every winged creature that they can kill, who 

 exterminate, in as far as they are able, those very 

 birds which are the best protectors of their favourite 

 plants, inasmuch as they consume those destructive 

 creatures which human labour cannot reach. 



The Carolina shrike builds its nest near the ground, 

 generally in close but detached bushes ; and the 

 sound which it utters in the pairing season is dis- 

 agreeable and creaking. It evinces the same attach- 

 ment for its young which is shown by most species of 

 the shrike. 



It is a short-winged bird in proportion to its size, 

 and therefore does not take long flights, though it is 

 certain and rapid in short ones. It measures about 

 nine inches in length, and thirteen in the stretch of 

 the wings. The colour on the upper part is dark 

 ash ; the scapulars and line above the eye is whitish ; 

 the wings black, with a small spot of white at the base 

 of the primaries, which are pointed with white ; a 

 black streak extends along the front through each 

 eye, reaching half way down the neck ; the eye is 

 dark hazel, sallow under the eye-brow ; the four 

 middle feathers of the tail are entirely black ; and 

 the four exterior ones on both sides are tipped with 



white more and more to the marginal one, which is 

 almost all white, which colour prevails in the whole 

 lower parts. In some specimens, the males and 

 females both exhibit transverse lines of a pale brown 

 colour. The female is rather smaller in size than 

 the male, and considerably darker in colour, both 

 on the lower and the upper parts ; but the black 

 does not extend so high on the first as it does on 

 the male. 



In America, which is a great country for insects, 

 the species of insectivorous birds with notched bills 

 adapted for the destruction of the larger insects are 

 exceedingly numerous ; but in many instances it is 

 impossible to draw the line between them, so as to se- 

 parate what are fly-catchers from what are shrikes, 

 though it is probable that the greater number are en- 

 titled to rank with the first of these divisions. The 

 king bird, or tyrant fly-catcher, has all the boldness 

 of the shrikes ; but still it evinces no disposition to 

 kill little birds, though it attacks in defence of its 

 young the very largest species with the utmost deter- 

 mination, and is quite sufficient to drive oft' even the 

 most powerful of the birds of prey. 



THE GREAT SHRIKK (L. cumuiis), is a native of 

 Africa, having the upper parts mottled with brown 

 russet and ash colour, with the middle of the feathers 

 black ; a large fawn-coloured spot over the eye, and 

 a dull brown on the ear covert ; the quills have their 

 upper webs russet, and are bordered with yellow, but 

 ash and grey on their under sides ; they are greyish 

 white with a rose-coloured tinge, on the flanks ; the 

 bill is of a yellow colour, and the feet are dusky black. 

 The colours on the female are less brilliant than those 

 on the male, and the under part is streaked with 

 dusky lines. The length of this species is about 

 thirteen inches. 



OLIVE SHRIKE (L. olivaccus), is another African 

 species, much smaller than the preceding, being only 

 six inches in length, and differing greatly from it in 

 the markings of the colours. The upper parts are 

 olive green ; the quills blackish, bordered with olive 

 green ; the tail feathers yellowish, except the two 

 middle ones, which are green ; the bill and feet are 

 brown, and the forehead and under parts yellow. 



Some shrikes have the head crested, among which 

 may be mentioned the crested shrike of China, and 

 that of New Holland. The first is about seven inches 

 and a half in length ; it has the upper part brown, 

 and the head black on the upper part, but with a 

 brown crest ; the cheeks, the throat, and the forepart 

 of the neck are white, with a black streak extending 

 from the gape, and a small red spot on the eye ; the 

 tail feathers are staged in the same manner as those 

 of the magpie ; they are brown for the greater part 

 of their length, but white at the tips ; the bill and 

 feet blackish. The New Holland crested species is 

 pale green, on the upper part is of the same colour ; 

 but the upper part of the neck, the quills, and the 

 tail feathers are blackish ; the under parts yellowish 

 brown ; the back yellow, and the feet brown. 



In southern Africa, in Madagascar, and the adjoin- 

 ing islands, and in all the islands to the south and 

 east of Asia, and also in the richer parts of south- 

 eastern Asia, which have a comparatively moist cli- 

 mate, and consequently a nearly constant vegetation, 

 with a corresponding abundance of large insects, 

 shrikes, as well as fly-catchers and other birds that 

 feed chiefly upon insects, are exceedingly numerous, 

 and they vary much both in size and in colour. Their 



