294 AVES: PASSERES. XL VI. 



pendages small or wanting. L. 6. W. 3f. T. 2J. N. Am., 

 abundant. (Lat., of the cedars.) 



FAMILY CLXXI. LANIID^. (THE SHRIKES.) 



Primaries 10, the first short (rarely wanting) ; bill hawklike, 

 very strong, the upper mandible toothed and abruptly hooked at 

 the tip ; both mandibles distinctly notched. Wings short, rounded. 

 Tail long. Tarsus scutellate on the outside as weU as in front. 

 Sexes alike. 



Species about 100, found in most parts of the world, remarkable 

 for their vigor and pugnacity. Their habits, corresponding with 

 the form of the bill, are similar to those of birds of prey, for which 

 reason they were placed by Linnseus among the Accipitres. They 

 have a remarkable habit of impaling small animals on thorns and 

 leaving them there. 



a. Rictus with bristles ; nostrils concealed by bristly tufts ; first primary not 

 very short LANIUS, 505. 



505. LANIUS Linnaeus. (Lat., butcher.) 



949. L. borealis Vieillot. GREAT NORTHERN SHRIKE. BUTCH- 

 ERBIRD. Ashy above, rump paler ; black bars on side of head 

 narrow, not meeting in front, and interrupted by a white crescent 

 on under eyelid ; rump and shoulders whitish ; wings and tail black, 

 outer tail feathers with white ; white below always waved with 

 blackish. L.*9. W. 4J. T. 4|. N. N. Am., S. in winter to Ky. 

 and Va. 



950. L. ludovicianus L. LOGGER-HEAD SHRIKE. Clear 

 ashy blue ; a whitish superciliary line ; black bars on sides of head 

 broad, meeting across forehead ; no white on under eyelid ; adults 

 white below, not dark-waved. L. 9. W. 3f . T. 4. S. U. S., the 

 typical variety, S. E., N. to Ohio and Vt. ; a paler form, var. ex- 

 cubitorides Swainson {White Rumped Shrike), common W., E. to 

 N. Y. This has the tail coverts whitish. L. 9. W. 4. T. 4. 

 (Lat., Louisianian.) 



FAMILY CLXXII. VIREONID^E- (THE VIREOS.) 



Primaries 10, or apparently only 9, the first being often rudi- 

 mentary and displaced. Bill shorter than head, stout, compressed, 

 decidedly notched and hooked. Rictus with bristles. Nostrils 

 exposed, overhung by a scale, reached by the bristly frontal feath- 

 ers. Tarsus scutellate ; toes soldered at base for the whole length 

 of basal joint of middle one, which is united with the basal joint of 

 the inner and the two basal joints of the outer ; lateral toes usually 

 unequal. 



A rather small family, comprising 5 genera and 60 to 70 species 

 of small olivaceous birds, all American. They are allied to the 



