SHRIKES 



163 



We next have the Puff-backed Shrikes {Dryoscopus), the 

 first representative of which is. the true PufE-back {D. cubla), 

 the male being well known for the beautiful powder-puff 

 like patch of downy white feathers on the back, which the 

 bird can erect at will. In Natal it is sometimes called the 



Photo. : A. Haagcer. 



Fig. 87. — Nest and eggs of Three-streaked Biish Shrike. 



" Snowball Shrike." General colour, black above and white 

 below. Length, 6| inches. 



It builds a cup-shaped nest of rootlets and fibres, the 

 outside being composed of strips of the palm-like leaves of 

 a Dracena, thickly matted with spider webs, and is always 

 built round the fork or branch on which it is placed. The 

 eggs— three in number— are pinkish white, thickly speckled 

 in the obtuse ends with small dots of deep pinkish brown. 



