114 



VERTEBRATA. 



THE FISCAL SHRIKE. 



naeus and some other authors went still further, and included these birds with the hawks and 

 owls in a single order. They form only two divisions — the Laniidce, or shrikes, and the Tham- 

 nophilince, or bush-shrikes. 



Genus SHRIKE: Lanlus. — This includes the Gray Shrike, or Great Butcher-Bird — Pie 

 G-rieche of the French, Grosserc Neuntoder of the Germans — L. excubitor, the largest and most 

 common species in Europe. It is about nine inches long; the upper parts of a light ash-gray; 

 the wings, tail, and a band around the eye, black ; the lower parts white. Its cry is troui, iroui, 

 which it repeats constantly, while it perches upon the tall trees. It is a vigorous and courageous 

 bird, dri\^ug• off the crows from its nest, and feeding upon insects which it takes on the wing, and 

 upon mice, moles, and small birds. It has the habit, in common with the other species, of sticking 

 its prey — such as grasshoppers, beetles, birds, mice, &c. — upon thorns, that it may pull them to 

 pieces more easily. Hence these birds are popularly called Butcher- Birds ; also Nine-Killers^ 

 from a popular belief that they kill and stick up nine creatures every morning, before beginning 

 to devour their meal. This species builds its nests in trees, and lays five or six eggs. It is sta- 

 tionary in southern Europe. Bechstein says: "The call of the shrike is like the gihr ! yihr I of 

 a lark. Like the nutcracker, lie imitates many single notes, but does not succeed in the song of 

 other birds. His own flute-like tone is very beautiful, resembling the whistling of the gray parrot. 

 In producing it, his throat is distended like that of the tree-frog. It is to be regretted that he 

 sings only in pairing time — from March to May — and that the song is interrupted by harsh and 

 croaking passages. Both sexes sing. The bird might possibly be taught to speak, as it some- 

 times utters notes closely resembling the human voice." 



" All small birds have an antipathy to the shrike, betray anger, and utter the moan of danger 

 when it approaches their nests. I have often heard this signal of distress, and cautiously ap- 

 proaching to learn the cause, have frequently found that this butcher-bird occasioned it. They 

 will mob, attack, and drive it away, as they do the owl, as if fully acquainted with its plundering 

 propensities. Linnaeus attached to it the trivial epithet of '• Excuhitor^ a sentinel ; a very apposite 

 appellation, as this bird seldom conceals itself in a bush, but sits perched upon some upper spray, 

 or in an open situation, heedful of danger, or watching for its prey." 



The Red-backed Shrike, L. collurio^ is a bird of passage, spending the winter in Asia, and 

 arriving in Europe in May. It is seven and a half inches long, and is the most common species. 

 It is generally seen in pairs, frequenting hedge-rows and the borders of woods. It is called Ecor- 

 cheur, or Flayer, by the French, The other foreign species are, the Italian Shrike, L. minor, eight 

 inches long, found in the south of Europe ; the Woodchat Shrike, L. rntilus, seven inches 

 long, common in all Afi-ica, and visiting the south of Europe in summer; the Bacbackiri 



