LARKS, TITMICE, HONEY-EATERS, THEIR KINDRED 533 



coloured. The females are dull- 

 coloured, whilst the males lose their 

 beauty in the winter season. These 

 birds are inhabitants of the tropical 

 regions of Africa, India, and Australia, 

 and seem to revel in the burning 

 rays of the noonday sun. 



Nearly allied to the Sun- 

 birds are the Flower-PECKERS of 

 the Indian and Australian regions. 

 These are all small birds, remark- 

 able as much for the beauty of 

 their nests as for the splendour 

 of their plumage. The nests are 

 purse-like structures, made of white 

 cotton-like material, and suspended 

 from a branch instead of as usual, 

 resting on it. One of the most 

 beautiful birds of the whole group, 

 which includes numerous species, is 

 the Australian Diamond-bird. Of a 

 general ashy-grey colour, this species 

 is splashed all over with spots of 

 red, yellow, orange, and black, whilst 

 the tail-coverts are rich dark red. 



Fhsia by If. F. fiJfB/l] [Ifij/llon Biix.x.ard 



RED-BACKED SHRIKES 



j^/so called Butcher-birds^ from their habit of killing small birds and mammals 

 and hanging them up on thorns 



Phstt by IV. Rtid] 



AUSTRALIAN M 



A common South Australian form, 

 Piping-croiv 



[IVishaw, N.B. 



AGPIE 



knoivn also as the 



CHAPTER XVII 



SHRIKES, THRUSHES AND THEIR ALLIES, 

 SJVALLOJVS, LYRE-BIRDS, CHATTERERS, 

 BROAD-BILLS, ETC. 



THE Shrike Family are an exceedingly interesting 

 group of birds, of world-wide distribution and of 

 great diversity of appearance, \'arying in size from 

 a bird as small as a titmouse to one as large as a 

 thrush, and presenting a considerable range of coloration, 

 some being very brightl}', others dull coloured, h'rom 

 the hooked beak, and the presence of a notch in the 

 tip of the upper jaw, they were considered by the older 

 naturalists to be allies of the Birds of Prey, a decision 

 still further supported by their hawk-like habit of capturing 

 living prey in the shape of small birds and mice ; whilst 

 the remarkable custom of impaling their victims, still 

 living, on thorns has earned for them the popular name 

 of Butcher-birds. The limits of the family, owing to 

 the diversity of the forms involved, have not as yet been 

 finally determined by naturalists, some having included 

 species which others hold have no place there. 



