THE SHRIKES. 159 



latter number. They are distinguished from those of the Gold- 

 Crest by their reddish tinge, which almost amounts to pale 

 chocolate. Most clutches show a faint ring round the larger 

 end of the egg, where the reddish dots are clustered together, 

 but in many specimens the whole of the egg is dusted with 

 tiny dots. Axis, 0-55 inch ; diam., 0*4. 



RUBY-CREST. REGULUS CALENDULA. 



An example of this American species is in the British 

 Museum, by which institution it was acquired with the rest of 

 the Gould collection after Mr. John Gould's death. It is 

 said to have been shot by the late Mr. Dewar, near Loch 

 Lomond, in 1852, but the history of this specimen seems 

 scarcely authenticated. 



THE SHRIKES. FAMILY LANIID^. 



The " Butcher "-birds, as they are sometimes called, from the 

 way in which some of them impale small animals, insects, &c., 

 on thorns, are a somewhat large assemblage of insectivorous 

 birds, which have generally a hooked bill with a notch near the 

 end of the upper mandible. This resemblance to the bill of a 

 Hawk caused many of the older naturalists to class the family 

 near the Accipitres, or Birds of Prey. The likeness is, however, 

 merely superficial, and a study of the other characters proves 

 that the Shrikes are thoroughly Passerine birds. Osteologically 

 considered, the skull of a Shrike has certain features which 

 distinguish it from the majority of the Passeres, and the princi- 

 pal character is the spiny process which forms the prolongation 

 of the inner posterior angle of the palatine-bones. Another 

 characteristic of the Shrikes is the barred plumage of the nest- 

 lings, which in the bulk of the Passerine birds are uniform in 

 colour, or else spotted or streaked. The Shrikes are a very 

 numerous family, and in some form or another are spread 

 over nearly the whole extent of the globe. The genus Lanius, 

 however, embraces the northern forms of the family, with which 

 alone the present work is concerned. 



THE TRUE SHRIKES. GENUS LANIUS. 

 Lanius, Linn., Syst. Nat, i., p. 134 (1766). 



Type, L. excubitor, Linn. 

 The characters enumerated above are those which distin- 



