QBE AT OBEY 8HBIKE. 



Order III.— INSECTIVOR^. 



Family LANID^. f Bonaparte.) 



Genus Lanius. f Linnceus.J 



Generic Characters. — Beak medium size, robust, convex, and much com- 

 pressed; superior mandible strongly curved at the tip, forming a hook; 

 base destitute of a cere, covered with rough hairs directed forwards. 

 Nostrils basal, partly lateral, almost round, closed by an arched membrane, 

 and frequently nearly concealed by the hairs. Tarsi longer than the middle 

 toe; three toes in front and one behind, entirely divided. First primary 

 of the wings of moderate length, the second slightly shorter than the 

 third and fourth, which are the longest. 



GREAT GREY SHRIKE, 



Lanius meridionalis. 



Lanius meridionalis, Temminck; Man. i., 143. 



" " Bonaparte. Schlegel. 



" " ScHiNZ. Degland. 



" " Keyserling et Blasius. Gould. 



Pie grieche ?neridiojiale, Of the French. 



Sildlicher Wiirger, Of the Germans. 



Specific Characters. — First quill feather shorter than the fifth; tail long 

 and much graduated, with the lateral quill feathers half black and half 

 white; a white mark above the eye, and a roseate tint on the under parts 

 in the adult. Length ten inches. 



The Shrikes, -wliicli form the first genus of Teniminck's third, 

 order, Insectivores, are a well-marked group, feeding almost, if not 

 entirely, upon insects. They were originally classed by Linnaeus in 

 his first edition of the "Systema Naturae," published in 1735, among 



