THE SHRIKE'S LARDER. 



his African winter quarters chestnut and 

 reddish brown above, melting into dainty 

 grey-blue about the head and neck, not 

 unrelieved by bold patches of pure black 

 and pure white on the tail and forehead. 

 Moreover, strange to say, he is an accom- 

 plished musician. But there is an ugly look 

 about him, none the less, for all his fine 

 song and all his fine feathers. He has a 

 cruel, falcon-like expression of face ; and 

 any one who has ever seen him engaged 

 in calmly spiking a harvest-mouse or a frog 

 on a thick spine of blackthorn, without the 

 faintest regard to his helpless victim's writh- 

 ing, cannot fail to recognize the evil element 

 in his eye, whenever he gives one the rare 

 chance of viewing him. 



Old-fashioned ornithologists used to think 

 the shrikes were related to the birds of 

 prey ; and, indeed, they do somewhat 

 resemble the smaller hawks in external 

 features. But the likeness is purely super- 

 ficial and adaptive curved bill, strong 

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