Crimson-breasted Shrike 733 



and feeding entirely on insects, more especially beetles; it is said to possess a 

 pleasant, albeit somewhat monotonous, song. The compact nest is usually placed 

 in a bush or olive tree and is so situated that it is shaded and covered by drooping 

 leaves. The six or seven eggs are pale greenish gray spotted with dull brown 

 or blackish. The Woodchat Shrike also frequents the open country and bushy 

 fields, where it keeps more or less concealed amongst the foliage. Insects form 

 its principal food, but a young or weakly bird is sometimes added, and like its 

 near relative, it has a somewhat pleasing song at certain seasons. The nest, 

 usually built in May, is a slight structure made of dried plant stems, often 

 of some sweet-smelling species, and is ordinarily placed in a bush or fork 

 of a tree. 



African Crimson-breasted Shrike. The third subfamily (Malaconotina) as 

 here accepted comprises a dozen genera and between ninety and one hundred 

 species, all being confined to Africa. Of this wealth of forms lack of space will 

 permit the mention of but few, among them the Crimson-breasted Shrike (Lani- 

 arius atrococcineus} of South Africa. This is a beautiful species, about eight 

 inches in length, the upper parts being a glossy blue-black with concealed spots 

 of grayish white on the rump, while the wings and tail are black, the former 

 with conspicuous white patches and the lower parts brilliant scarlet. It is a 

 rather wary bird, usually found singly or in pairs, frequenting both open woods 

 and dense thickets, but preferring the latter. In such situations it may be 

 observed industriously searching for insects and their larvse, and while "thus 

 occupied occasionally utters pleasant, clear, ringing notes, but with the prelude 

 a harsh guttural sound." It constructs a rather roughly made nest, without soft 

 lining, of the inner bark of trees and a few grass stems; the eggs are white or 

 greenish white spotted with light brown. The other forms of this genus (Lani- 

 arius}, of which there are a large number, are widely spread over Africa and 

 may be known by the presence of red, green, or yellow in the plumage. 



Bacbakiri Shrike. Another species perhaps worthy of brief mention is the 

 Bacbakiri Shrike (Pelicinius gutturalis) , so named from the likeness of its ring- 

 ing call notes to the Dutch word bacbakiri; it is found in South Africa, ranging 

 from Cape Colony to Natal and Benguela. About eight and a half inches long, 

 the general color above is green, the crown, nape, sides of the neck, and ear- 

 coverts gray, the lores black, and the throat, chin, and cheeks bright yellow, the 

 same color extending in a narrow stripe from the nostrils over the eye ; the lower 

 parts are mainly yellow with a broad deep black crescent on the breast and a 

 narrow band of black along the sides of the neck. In Damara Land, Mr. Anders- 

 son found it a very shy and retiring bird, plunging into the thickest part of the 

 nearest brush the moment it found itself observed, and thence moving on as near 

 to the ground as the locality will permit ; but at the Cape it is a very familiar bird, 

 frequenting the gardens and cultivated areas. "This Shrike," he continues; 

 "feeds chiefly on insects, but it is said occasionally to kill and devour young 

 birds ; it hunts for its prey amongst low bushes and on the ground, and runs with 

 great swiftness. It is usually found in pairs, but for some time after the breed- 

 ing season the parents are accompanied by their families, which they tend with 



