SARIKES. 
Lanidez. 
are found in all parts of the globe. Where there is bush or tree, 
where field and meadow border on forests—be they composed of 
magnolias or maples, palms or birches, olives or pines; be they 
planted according to the rules of forestry by human hands, or be 
they the direct production of nature in the forest primeval, where 
in the strife for existence strong fresh growth emanates from the 
decay of past grandeur, mighty trees grow on the graves of mightier ones, 
which grew and fell before them that their successors may grow in their 
places—everywhere there are Shrikes, whose life is death to some weaker 
creature. The family of Shrikes, considered in all its subdivisions and genera, 
is a many colored race: Black and white, gray and brown, even green, 
yellow and red, from the darkest rust-red to the choicest hues of pink, nearly 
all colors are represented in the plumage of the race of Shrikes. In form 
these birds are as neat and dainty as they are strong and enduring. The 
beak is stout and hooked, “combining claw and tooth in one murderous 
instrument, is surely the weapon of a Hawk, or other rapacious bird! In one sense, 
we certainly have here a bird of prey; yet, if the portrait were finished at full length, 
we should find the feet as weak and harmless as those of a Thrush or Sparrow, instead 
of being furnished with the talons which confer such raptorial prowess upon the Falcon, 
the Eagle, and the Owl. If, furthermore, we should examine the anatomy of the 
Shrikes, it would be merely to discover that the entire structure of the internal organs 
‘is modelled after a strictly Passerine type. Though the bone and muscle indicate unusual 
strength and vigor, the beak itself is the seal of the Shrike order—a mark as plain and 
unmistakable as that which stamps the tribes of Israel, wherever dispersed over the 
earth—the symbol of a spirit as bold and reckless as ever dwelt in the breast of any 
one of the Hawks called ‘noble’ in the olden time, when falconry beguiled the leisure 
hours of kings and royal mistresses.” (Coues.) 
