THE SINGING BIRDS. 151 



THE HELMET SHRIKE. 

 The Helmet Shrike (Prionop poliocephalus or Prionops cristatus) is easily recognisable by the 

 remarkable plume, composed of stiff, hairy feathers, with which the head is decorated. Some of 

 these hairy feathers cover the nostrils and base of the beak, and incline forwards, whilst the rest rise 

 directly from the top of the head, and combining, form a crest that in shape resembles the upper part 

 of a helmet. The eyelids are brightly coloured, and in texture similar to the cere with which our 

 readers have become familiar in the Raptores. The wings, in which the third quill exceeds the rest 

 in length, although of considerable size, do not cover more than a third of the very long and rounded 

 tail ; the tarsi are short, and the toes long. The plumage is soft, thick, and very simply coloured ; 

 the mantle-quills and a large portion of the tail are black ; the crest, head, nape, and entire under 

 surface white. An indistinct yellowish line passes over the back of the head. The inner web and 

 tips of the primary quills, the tips of the secondaries and the exterior tail-feathers are white ; the 

 rest are tinted with a mixture of black and white, in which the former predominates. The eye is 

 pearl-grey, and its lid bright orange, the feet cinnabar-red, and the beak black. Heuglin tells us that 

 the crest of the young bird is short, and shaded with grey. The length of this species is eight and 

 its breadth thirteen inches ; the wing measures four inches and a half and the tail thirteen and a half. 

 Riippell found large flocks of Helmet Shrikes inhabiting the valleys on the Abyssinian coast, where 

 they lived, like their congeners, in low bushes, and subsisted upon insects. Nevertheless, this writer 

 states that he never saw them again in his travels through other parts of that country. We ourselves 

 were, on one occasion, fortunate enough to see a considerable party of these remarkable-looking birds 

 in the forests near the Blue Nile. Such slight observations as we were able to make would seem to 

 indicate that their mode of life is very similar to that of the last-mentioned group. Heuglin only met 

 with this species during the rainy season, and therefore concludes that it is of migratory habits. 



The RAVEN SHRIKES (Tliamnophili) constitute a very peculiar group inhabiting South 

 America, Africa, and New Holland, closely allied to the Shrikes, though differing from them in so 

 many particulars that ornithologists are as yet at variance respecting their classification, founding their 

 difference of opinion upon the peculiar construction of the singing apparatus observable in some 

 species. These birds are for the most part of moderate size, with powerfully constructed bodies ; 

 their wings are either of medium length, or short and much rounded, whilst the tail is subject to many 

 varieties of form ; the tarsi, which are usually long and slender, always exceed the centre toe in 

 length, this latter is united with the exterior toe as far as the first joint, whilst on the inner side 

 the toes are entirely unconnected. The elongate beak, which is always more or less straight at its 

 oilmen, curves abruptly towards its tip, where it exhibits tooth-like appendages. The margins of the 

 bill are sharp and compressed ; the plumage of some species is rich, soft, and in many instances 

 striking in appearance, owing to the long and almost wool-like feathers upon the back ; the base of 

 the beak is usually surrounded by a growth of bristles. 



We are entirely without particulars as to the life and habits of several members of this group, 

 and must therefore avoid any general description. 



The CROW SHRIKES (Cracticus), according to Gould, who first described them, closely 

 resemble the Piping Crows in appearance. 



THE MAGPIE SHRIKE. 

 The Magpie Shrike (Cracticus destructor), the most numerous representative of this section, is 

 of a deep greyish brown upon the upper part of the body ; the wings are blackish brown ; the top of 



