348 THE BIRDS OF ATJSTKALIA 



Genus Cracticus. Butcher-birds. 

 Bill like that of Gymnorhina, but stouter and strongly 

 hooked. Colour of plumage black, white and grey. Australian 

 region extending into Austro-Malaysia. 



Key to the Species. 



Adult birds all black: young males rufous. North Australia. C. rufescens. 



Belly white. 



H. Throat black; a white collar round the hind neck. 



Total length 13 inches. All the States C. nigrigularis. 



Total length 11 inches. Northern Territory 



and North-west. C. picatus. 



b. Throat white. 



Back black, chin black. New Guinea, North 



Australia. C. spaldingi. 



Back grey, chin white. 



Flanks pale brownish-grey. 



Eastern Australia. C. destructor. 



Tasmania. C. cinereus. 



West Australia. C. leueopterus. 



Flanks and sides of breast pure white. 



North Australia. C. argenteus. 



The Butcher-birds have a sad reputation. They are birds 

 which prey on small game. 



"Mice and rats, and such small deer 

 Have been Tom 's food for seven long year. ' ' 



Small quadrupeds, lizards, birds and insects fall victims. The 

 birds of prey at least kill their quarry quickly. The Butcher- 

 bird has another method, when he is not hungry. He impales 

 his victims on sharp thorns, so that they may still be fresh meat 

 when he is ready to feed. He is an inveterate destroyer of small 

 birds, and will come about the houses if canaries are hung in 

 cages to the verandah. In some way he terrifies the birds so 

 that they come near to the meshes of the cage, and the head is 

 off in an instant. He is capable of emptying an aviary in this 

 way, and the only securitj^ is to have two layers of netting. 

 The notes of the Butcher-birds are loud and distinctly musical, 

 but one feels that such a character should not possess so pleasing 

 a voice, and in consequence a suspicion of hypocrisy as a further 

 vice. The nest is large, of the style of the Magpie's, cup- 

 shaped and formed of sticks and lined with fibres of grasses and 

 roots, and placed in trees. Eggs, three in number, of some 

 neutral ground tint with brown spots. Dimensions about 1.25 

 X .9 inch. 



