( 434 ) 



GREAT CINEREOUS SHRIKE. 



Lanius Excubitor, Linn. 



PLATE CXCII. Vol. II. p. 534. 



The dimensions of an adult male presented by Dr T. M. Brewek 

 of Boston, and preserved in spirits, are : — Length to end of tail lOy^jj 

 inches, to end of wings 1^^, to end of claws 9>^^ ; extent of wings 14|;*2 ; 

 wing from flexure 4j^2 ; tail 4^^^. 



The roof of the mouth is nearly flat, with a median prominent ridge 

 anteriorly, and two papillate ridges be- 

 hind. The posterior aperture of the nares 

 is 7 twelfths long ; the tongue is slender, 

 7 twelfths long, emarginate and papillate 

 at the base, concave above, horny toward 

 the end, the margins lacerated, the tip slit. 

 The width of the mouth is 7^ twelfths. The 

 oesophagus, abc,\s 2 inches 10 twelfths 

 long, of considerable width, having an ave- 

 rage breadth of 4 twelfths ; the proven- 

 triculus, hc,b twelfths in width, its glands 

 forming a belt only 3 twelfths in breadth. 

 The stomach, d e, is broadly elliptical, 11 

 twelfths long, 9^ twelfths broad ; its mus- 

 cular coat thin, being composed of strong 

 parallel fasciculi, its thickest part not ex- 

 ceeding 1 twelfth; the epithelium thin, 

 tough, reddish-brown, longitudinally ru- 

 gous. The pylorus is very small, with a 

 semilunar margin. The intestine, efghij, 

 is 12 inches long, its greatest width 3 

 twelfths, the least 2 twelfths ; the cceca, i, 

 2 twelfths long, and scarcely \ twelfth 

 wide, their distance from the extremity 1 

 inch ; the cloaca, /, oblong, its width about 

 6 twelfths. The stomach contained por- 

 tions of a mouse, including two front teeth. 



