258 VERTEBRATA. AVES. 



Warblers hardly perceptible. The genera are very 

 numerous, scattered over the globe, but we can 

 notice only a few of the more prominent. 



Lanius,* the Shrike. 



The most carnivorous among the insect-eating 

 races, the Shrikes, in their attacks upon small birds, 

 manifest a ferocity and a daring scarcely inferior to 

 the Falcons. Perched upon a projecting spray, they 

 sit for hours patiently watching for the casual ap- 

 pearance of some large beetle or grasshopper, or 

 some small bird, when they dart suddenly upon it, 

 seize it with their strong and sharp beak, (not with 

 the feet,) and strangle it instantly. The prey thus 

 taken, they have the very remarkable habit of impal- 

 ing upon thorns or similar projections, where they may 

 occasionally be seen remaining, the bird often leaving 

 them. From this habit, the genus has obtained the 

 common name of Butcher-bird, as well as its scien- 

 tific appellation signifying the same thing. The 

 object of the singular instinct appears to be, to fix 

 the prey while it is torn into morsels with the beak, 

 the feet and claws being weak and insufficient for 

 this purpose. Mr. Selby, in his Illustrations of 

 British Ornithology, informs us, "I had the grati- 

 fication of witnessing this operation of the Shrike 

 (Z. Excubitor) upon a Hedge Chanter (Accentor Mo- 

 dularis) which it had just killed, and the skin of 

 which, still attached to the thorn, is now in my 

 possession. In this instance, after killing the bird, 



* Lanius, a butcher. 



