PSAKIS. BIRDS. 217 



tipped with white ; legs and feet black. 7J- inches long. Inha- 

 bits Europe. B. Se%, Illust. pi. 43, fig. 2, 3. 

 The Red-backed Shrike transfixes the larger insects, particularly the chafer, en a 

 thorn, and tears off the body, leaving the wing-cases, wings, and head. Colonel 

 Montagu kept a young brood of this species for some time ; but though they lived 

 in amity for about two months, they then became very pugnacious, and two out of 

 four were killed. 



L.frontatus, Lath. (Falcunculus, Vieill.) Head and neck black, 

 crested, with two lateral white bands ; wings and tail brown; body 

 beneath yellow. About 7 inches long. Inhabits New Holland". 

 Shan, xiii. pi. 50. 



L. Antiguanus, Lin. Plumage reddish yellow ; wing-feathers and 

 cuneated tail black ; bill large, with hooked tip. 7 inches long. 

 Inhabits Philippine Islands Shaw, vii. 333. 



L. collaris, Lin. Collared Shrike. Plumage black above, white be- 

 neath ; white scapulars, and cuneated tail edged with white ; bill 

 and legs black. 10 inches long. Inhabits Africa. 

 ^ This species, according to Levaillant, when it sees a locust, a mantis, or a small 

 bird, springs on it, and instantly carries it off, to impale it on a thorn, and with 

 such dexterity that the spine always passes through the head of the victim ; or, if a 

 thorn cannot readily be found, it fixes, with great address, the head of the captur- 

 ed animal between a division of two small branches. Every creature which it seizes 

 undergoes exactly the same process, and it thus continues to kill, and to store up its 

 bloody acquisitions all day long, transfixing many more carcasses than it ultimately 

 devours. 



Gen. 9- PSARTS, Cuv. Tern. Lanius, Lin. 

 Bill thick, short, hard, conical, round, ridged, depressed at the 

 base, compressed at the point, which is crooked and notched ; 

 no nasal furrow; nostrils distant from the base, lateral, 

 round, open, in the corneous substance of the bill ; legs 

 .strong; tarsus short, the length of the intermediate toe; the 

 external toe united to the first joint, the internal at the base ; 

 wings of medium size, the third and fourth feathers longest. 



P. Cay anus, Tern. Plumage bluish gray; head, borders of the wings, 

 quill-feathers, and tail black ; bill reddish, with black tip ; legs 

 black. 8 inches long. Inhabits Cayenne. Buff. PI. Enl 377. 



P. Cumerii, Swainson. Plumage yellowish olive above ; lower part 

 of the neck, breast, sides, and inner wing-coverts yellow ; abdomen 

 white ; crown of the head deep bluish black ; bill bluish ; tail 

 short, slightly divaricated. 5J inches long. Inhabits Brazil. 

 Swainson, Zool. Illust. pi. 32. 



Gen. 10. SPARACTES, Illig. Lanius, Lin. 

 Bill strong, thick, a little depressed at the base, much dilated 

 on the sides, without projecting ridge, a little bent and com- 

 pressed at the point, which is slightly notched ; no distinct 

 nasal furrow; lower mandible strong, broad, with obtuse point; 

 nostrils basal, lateral, pierced in a furrow in the corneous 

 mass ; legs strong ; tarsus longer than the middle toe. 



