872 THE GKEAT GEEY SHEIKE. 



and maintaining royal dominion over tliem. In tlieir habits the birds of this genus differ 

 but very slightly from each other, and in all essentials they agree. They are insect-feeders, 

 preferring grasshoppers to any other prey, and often pouncing upon the backs of cattle for 

 the sake of capturing the flies that are so fond of attacking the poor beasts in the warm 

 weather. They will even take their posts with perfect composure on the back of a cow or 

 goat, and consider the animal as their especial property for the time being. As they are 

 swift of flight, they constantly dart from their perches and capture insects on the wing. 



The nest of the King Ci'ow is placed in the trees which grow in the thickest jungle, 

 and is made of slender twigs interwoven with grasses, moss, and lichens. Some of the 

 Dicrurine birds build a very beautiful and elaborately constructed nest, while others are 

 content with a negligent and slovenly residence. The eggs are generally three or four in 

 number. 



We now arrive at the family of Lanid^. or Shrikes, or Butcher Birds, whose 

 character is given in the names by which they are distinguished. The scientific term 

 Lanidpe is of Latin origin, and is derived from a word which signifies lacerating or tearing, 

 in allusion to the habits of the bird. These birds are found in all jDarts of the globe, and 

 in all countries are celebrated for their sanguinary and savage character. They are quite 

 as rapacious as any of the hawk tribe, and in proportion to their size are much more 

 destructive and bloodthirsty. They feed upon small and disabled mammalia, and birds 

 of varioiis kinds, esi^ecially preferring them while young and still unfledged, and upon 

 several kinds of reptiles, and also find great part of their subsistence among the members 

 of the insect world. 



In order to fit them for these rapacious pursuits, the bill is strong, rather elongated, 

 sharp-edged, curved at the tip, and armed on each side with a well-marked tooth. 

 The wings are powerful, the plumage closely set, and the claws strong, curved and sharp. 

 The Shrikes are separated for convenience of reference into two groups or sub-families, 

 namely the true Shrikes, or LAN^NiE, and the Bush Shrikes, or Thajvinophilin^. 



Of the true Shrikes we find an excellent example in the well-known Great Grey 

 Shrike, a bird which is very common in many parts of Europe, especially in the more 

 southern and warmer regions, but is generally scarce in England, visiting us, whenever it 

 does make its appearance, in the winter season. 



This bird eats mice, shrews, small or young birds, frogs, lizards, beetles, grasshoppers, 

 and many other creatures. It generally, if not always, destroys its prey by a severe bite" 

 across the head, crushing in the skull, and usually commences its meal with the head. 

 This, together with the other Shrikes, has a curious habit of hanging its food upon some 

 convenient spot, such as a forked branch, a thorn or sharp broken end of a bough, and 

 will frequently leave its prey thus suspended for a considerable period. Even insects are 

 served in this manner, being impaled upon thorns and left hanging in the branches. The 

 object of this curious custom is extremely dubious. It cannot be merely for the purpose 

 of holding the prey securely while it feeds, for the Shrike will frequently commence 

 eating a bird immediately after its capture, holding the prey tightly with its claws after 

 the manner of the hawks, and tearing it to pieces with its powerfully hooked bill. Nor 

 can it be with the object of making it tender by hanging in the air, as the bird often 

 devours the prey at once. Moreover, insects would not become more tender by exposure, 

 but would rapidly dry up in the sunshine and become hard and useless for food. 



Even when tame it continues this habit, and has been known to make constant use of 

 a spike driven into a wall for that purpose by its owner, always carrying its food, whether 

 it consisted of meat or small birds, and impaling it upon the accustomed spike. A caged 

 bird, mentioned in Mr. Yarrell's work, was in the habit of employing the spaces between 

 the wires for the same purpose, always hanging the remnants of its meal between the 

 ■wires, and pushing the prey through the bars while eating. 



Its name of Excubitor, or Watchman, has been given to it from the services which it 

 enders to the fowler. 



Fierce and powerful as it is, it holds the falcon in the greatest terror, and is gifted 



