212 LAN1ID/F. 



the body very pale red ; under tail-coverts white ; legs, toes 

 and claws, black. The length of the adult male is about 

 seven inches and a half; the wing from the carpal joint to 

 the end of the third and longest feather, three inches and 

 seven-eighths ; the first feather less than half the length of 

 the second which is nearly as long as the fourth. 



The adult female ordinarily has the beak dark brown ; 

 irides hazel : no black about the head, but a light-coloured 

 streak over the eye ; the whole of the upper surface of the 

 head and body reddish-brown ; wings like those of the male, 

 but the rufous margins narrower; tail-feathers above brown, 

 tinged with red, the outer edge of the web of each outside 

 tail-feather dull white ; below grey, tipped with dull white. 

 Chin dull white : under surface of the body and the sides 

 greyish-white, crossed with greyish-brown semilunar lines ; 

 abdomen and under tail-coverts, dull white. The length of 

 the female described rather exceeded that of the male. 

 Young males are like adult females, but have the darker semi- 

 lunar marks on the back as well as on the breast. 



Some particulars in reference to the female of this 

 species require here to be noticed. Though the description 

 just given is that of its ordinary appearance, it has been 

 observed by various ornithologists and in different countries 

 that occasionally a hen Red-backed Shrike is found very, if 

 not exactly, similar in plumage to that worn by the cock. 

 In England the fact seems to have been first noticed by Hoy, 

 who, in 1831, recorded (Mag. Nat. Hist. iv. p. 344) his 

 having found a nest of this species attended by two ap- 

 parently male birds. Struck by the singularity of the fact he 

 shot both, and "on dissection one proved the female, with 

 the eggs much enlarged, and one nearly ready for exclusion." 

 In 1835, Mr. Blyth met with an almost similar example : 

 "it was," he says (Mag. Nat. Hist. viii. p. 364), "a female, 

 partly in the male plumage ; but the ovaries were perfect, 

 and contained eggs ; and it was in company with a partner 

 of the other sex at the time it was shot." " I have reason 

 to believe," he continues, " that this was a young individual ; 

 that is to say, a bird of the preceding year." Now these 



