CHAPTER XVII. SHRIKES 



FAM. LANIIDCE 



THE present chapter concludes a series of families by some 

 called Dentirostres, from the circumstance that the bill 

 as a rule presents a more or less obvious nick in the cutting 

 edge of the upper mandible near the end, and sometimes quite 

 a "tooth" is developed just back of the nick. Such structure 

 is particularly well marked in the Vireos, which appear to be 

 closely related to the Shrikes, and it may be seen in most of 

 the Turdiue, Sylvicoline, and other birds we have already con- 

 sidered. In the Shrikes, which we now come to examine, 

 this character is found in its highest development; the 

 Laniidce being characterized by the notched, toothed, and 

 hooked bill, the size, shape, and strength of which make it 

 quite like that of a bird of prey, in combination with small, 

 weak, and thoroughly Passerine feet. Nevertheless, the family 

 is quite a large one, consisting of numerous genera and some 

 two hundred nominal species, which differ so much in details 

 of structure that strict definition of the family is scarcely 

 practicable. I find no satisfactory diagnosis of the group in 

 its entirety, nor am I prepared to furnish one; and authors 

 disagree very cordially respecting the natural limitation of 

 the family. It was formerly held to be much more extensive 

 than it is now usually admitted to be, having included the 

 Thamnophilince, Vireonidce, and some other groups which have 

 since been elsewhere assigned or allowed to stand by them- 

 selves. The Laniidce of Gray consist of three subfamilies, 

 the PachycephalincBj Laniince, and Malaconotince, the second of 

 which may be regarded as the central or typical group. 

 The family is thoroughly Old World, only two species of a 

 single genus occurring in America. 



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