238 LANIUS 



Pie-gri&che ecorcheur, French ; Desollador, Verdugo, Span. :. 

 Averla-piccola, Ital. ; Rothriickiger Wiirger, German ; G-raauwe 

 Klaauwier, Dutch ; Brwnryggad Tornskatct, Swed. ; Alminddig 

 Tomskade, Dan. ; Pienempi-I/epinkainen, Finn. ; SoroTcoput-julan, 

 Russ. 



ad. (England). Crown, nape, and upper tail-coverts blue-grey ;. 

 mantle brownish chestnut-red ; wings blackish brown narrowly margined 

 externally with rufous ; wing-coverts black with broad rufous margins ; 

 middle tail-feathers black, the rest white at the base, then black with 

 narrow white tips ; frontal line, lores, and ear-coverts deep black ; chin r 

 lower abdomen, under wing- and tail-coverts white ; rest of under parts 

 rose-coloured ; bill and legs black ; iris brown. Culmen 0'6, wing 3'7,, 

 tail 3'2, tarsus 0*95 inch. The female is brownish grey above, faintly 

 barred, the tail russet-brown tipped with white ; the under parts dull 1 

 white with spade-shaped brown vermiculations ; old females, however, 

 assume a plumage nearly approaching that of the male. The young bird 

 has the upper parts reddish brown, the under parts pale fulvous, both 

 above and below barred with blackish and brown vermiculations ; bill and 

 legs dull plumbeous ; iris light brown. 



Hob. Northern Europe ; in Sweden as far north as Umea ; 

 Central Europe, not common in the south-west ; Asia as far east 

 as the Altai range, wintering in Africa, not on the west coast, as 

 far south as the Cape Colony. 



Inhabits plains, fields, gardens, and hedgerows, and feeds on 

 insects, especially grasshoppers, mice, and even small birds, and 

 impales its prey on thorns like its allies. Its usual note is a 

 harsh sliek, shek, and the male utters a sort of song. It 

 breeds in May or June, building a somewhat large nest of twigs, 

 roots, and grass-bents, well lined with wool, moss, and horsehair, 

 and usually places it in a bush or high hedge. The eggs 4 to 6 

 in number vary from light greenish grey with light violet shell- 

 markings and brown surface-spots, to pale salmon-colour with 

 violet shell-, and reddish surface-blotches, and average about 

 1-0 by 0-7. 



353. ISABELLINE SHRIKE. 

 LANIUS ISABELLINUS. 



Lanius isabellinus, Ehrenb. Symb. Phys. i. fol. e, footnote, (1828) ; 

 Dresser, iii. p. 413 (partim) ; Gadow, Cat. B. Br. Mus. viii. p. 277 ; 

 Gates, F. Brit. Ind. Birds, i. p. 467 ; Gatke, Vogelw. Helgol. p. 227 ; 

 L. arenarius, Blyth, J.A.S. Beng. xv. p. 304 (1846) ; Hume and 

 Renders. Lah. to Yark. p. 183, pi. iii. 



Bulanui-Sorokoput, Russian. 



