90 



Species of this order occur in all parts of the globe, but 

 their number increases with the temperature, and those 

 which breed in the northern regions migrate southward 

 as winter approaches. The larger species feed on mice, 

 small birds, reptiles, and insects ; are shy, ferocious, 

 tyrannical, and unsocial ; frequent woods and thickets ; 

 and have a rapid, buoyant, and undulating flight. The 

 smaller species feed on insects, some of them also occa- 

 sionally on small soft fruits. They nestle in trees and 

 bushes, sometimes in holes, and make an elaborate nest, 

 lining it with soft materials. The young, at first blind 

 and bare, remain until able to fly. Three families may 

 be referred to this order : LANIINJE, MYIOTHERIN^E, PSA- 

 RIN^E, and CORACIIN^E, the first two being the Shrikes and 

 Flychasers, of which we have a few species, the next the 

 Thick-bills, of which we have none, and the last the Rol- 

 lers, represented by a single species. 



FAMILY IX. LANII10E. LANIINE BIRDS 

 OR SHRIKES. 



Body compact, moderately full ; neck rather short ; 

 head large, broadly ovate, or roundish. Bill rather short, 

 or moderate, strong, as high as broad at the base, com- 

 pressed ; upper mandible with the ridge convex, the 

 edges sharp, with well-marked dentiform process and 

 notch, the tip slender, decurved, acute ; lower mandible 

 with the tip small, ascending, with a sinus behind it. 

 Mouth rather wide ; both mandibles concave ; tongue 

 sagittate at the base, tapering, thin-edged, with the tip 

 slit and lacerated ; oesophagus of moderate width, without 

 crop ; proventriculus oblong, with short cylindrical glan- 

 dules ; stomach elliptical, moderately muscular, the epi- 

 thelium thin and rugous ; intestine short, of moderate 



