THE COMMON WOOD SHRIKE. 29 



July it was tolerably abundant round the lakes and swamps, but from the setting in of the 

 rainy season in November to his leaving that part of the country in the following March, not 

 an individual was to be seen ; it is evident, therefore, that the bird removes from one locality to 

 another according to the season and the more or less abundance of its peculiar food. I believe 

 it feeds solely upon insects and their larvae, particularly Grasshoppers and Coleoptera. The flight 

 of the Pied Grallina is very peculiar, unlike that of any other Australian bird that came under 

 my notice, and is performed in a straight line, with a heavy flapping motion of the wings. Its 

 natural note is a peculiarly shrill whining whistle, often repeated. It breeds in October and No- 

 vember. The nest is from five to six inches in breadth and three in depth, and is formed of soft 

 mud, which, soon becoming hard and solid upon exposure to the atmosphere, has precisely the 

 appearance of a massive clay-coloured earthenware vessel ; and, as if to attract notice, this singular 

 structure is generally placed on some bare horizontal branch, often on the one most exposed to view, 

 sometimes overhanging water and at others in the open forest. The colour of the nest varies with 

 that of the material of which it is formed. Sometimes the clay or mud is sufficiently tenacious 

 to be used without any other material. In those situations where no mud or clay is to be obtained 

 it is constructed of black or brown mould ; but the bird, appealing to be aware that this substance 

 will not hold together for want of the adhesive quality of the clay, mixes with it a great quantity of 

 dried grass, stalks, <fcc., and thus forms a firm and hard exterior, the inside of which is slightly lined 

 with dried grass and a few feathers. The eggs differ considerably in colour and shape, some being 

 extremely lengthened, while others bear a relative proportion. The ground colour of some is a 

 beautiful pearl white, of others a very pale buff; their markings also differ considerably in form and 

 disposition, being in some instances wholly confined to the larger end, in others distributed over the 

 whole of the surface, but always inclined to form a zone at the larger end. In some these markings 

 are of a deep chestnut red, in others light red, intermingled with large clouded spots of grey, appearing 

 as if beneath the siirface of the shell. The eggs are generally four, but sometimes only two in number; 

 their average length is one inch and three lines, and their breadth nine lines." 



One of the best known forms belonging to this family is the genus Tephrodornis,* which contains 

 some half-a-dozen species, inhabitants of India and the Indo-Chinese countries, ranging down the 

 Malayan Peninsula to the Sunda Islands. According to Dr. Jerdon, they go about in small flocks, 

 which frequent thin jungle-groves, gardens, and even hedgerows, generally ranging from tree to tree, 

 and most carefully hunting the branches for insects, chiefly Coleopteru and Orthoptera. The 

 Common Wood Shrike (T. pondicerianus) has a mellow whistling note, and is said to be occasionally 

 caged for its song. In Australia the Wood Shrikes are strongly represented by the genus 

 Collyrhcincla, of which Mr. Gould writes that "they are neither Shrikes nor Thrushes, but most 

 nearly allied to the former, feeding on insects to a very great extent, but occasionally partaking 

 of molluscs and berries. Some of them defend themselves vigorously when attacked. The nest is 

 rather slightly built, cup-shaped in form, and is mostly placed in the hollow spout of a tree ; the 

 eggs are four in number." In Africa there are also several kinds of Wood Shrikes, the most 

 peculiar being the Helmeted Wood Shrikes (Prionops).~f Of P. talacoma, which is known as 

 Smith's Helmet Shrike, Mr. C. J. Andersson gives the following note, in his "Birds of Damara 

 Land " : " It is always seen in flocks of from half-a-dozen to a dozen individuals, which frequent 

 secluded spots, where they restlessly hop from branch to branch on the bushes and the lower boughs of 

 the trees, never remaining long on the same tree, but hunting most systematically for insects, which, with 

 the occasional addition of young shoots and leaves, form their food. Whilst some individuals of the 

 Hock are examining a tree in search of insects, others keep moving slowly on, but rarely going farther 

 than the next tree. When the locality is open, those which first reach a tree fix their gaze intently 

 on the ground, and if any prey be in sight, pounce upon it with great celerity, their companions, 

 whilst the successful preyers are devouring their booty, continuing to move on slowly as before." Of 

 Retzius' Helmet Shrike, which is also found in Damara Land, the same observer remarks : " When 

 encamped in the desert, a few days' journey south of the Okavango, I for the first and only time 

 observed this fine Shrike. The flock consisted of six individuals an adult male and female, and four 

 young birds of both sexes all of which I secured after much running and dodging, as they were 



* Te<pwSrj?, ash-coloured ; op^is, a bird. f jrpiW, a saw ; w\|/, a face. 



147 



