326 THE RED-BACKED SHRIKE. 
brown, also tipped with white. The under surface of the bird is sober grey. 
and the under tail-coverts are rich ruddy brown. The length of the Waxen 
Chatterer is about eight inches. 
WE now atrive at the family of Lanida, or SHRIKES, or BUTCHER BIRDS, 
whose character is given in the names by which they are distinguished The 
scientific term “ Lanide” is of Latin origin, and is derived from a word 
which signifies lacerating or tearing, in allusion to the habits of the bird, 
‘These birds are found in all parts of the globe, and in all countries are cele- 
brated for their sanguinary and savage character. They are quite as 
rapacious as any of the hawk tribe, and in proportion to their size are much 
more destructive and bloodthirsty. They feed upon small and disabled 
mammaiia, and birds of various kinds, especially preferring them while young 
and still unfledged, and upon several kinds of reptiles, and also find great 
part of their subsistence among the members of the insect world. ; 
In order to fit them for these rapacious pursuits, the bill is strong, rather 
elongated, sharp-edged, curved at the tip, and armed on each side with a 
well-marked tooth. The wings are powerful, the plumage closely set, and the 
claws strong, curved, and sharp. The Shrikes are separated for convenience 
of reference into two groups or sub-families, namely, the true Shrikes, or 
Laninz, ane the Bush Shrikes, or Thamnophiline. 
The RED-BACKED SHRIKE is 
asummer visitant to this country, 
and is tolerably common. Its 
winter quarters seem to be situ- 
ated in Africa, and it reaches us 
at the end of April, or the begin- 
ning of May, passing through 
Italy on its passage. 
During the time of its residence 
it may often be seen flitting about 
the tops of hedges and small 
trees, evidently in search of its 
prey, and even ata considerable 
distance may be recognized by 
its habit of wagging its tail up 
and down whenever it settles, in 
a manner very similar to that of 
the wag-tails, Usually it is seen in pairs ; but when the eggs are laid, the 
male bird is generally engaged in procuring food while the mother bird 
stays at home and attends to her domestic affairs. 
The food of the Red-Backed Shrike chiefly consists of the larger insects, 
such as grasshoppers, beetles, and chafers, and it is in the habit of impaling 
them on the thorns near its nest, probably to save the mother bird the trouble 
of going to look for her « wn meals. a 
The nest of this Shrike is situated in hedges or bushes, generally from 
five to ten feet from the ground, the average elevation being about seven feet. 
It is large, rather clumsy, and very easily seen through the foliage, being 
made of thick grass-stems, moss, and roots on the exterior, and lined with 
very fine grasses and hair, In some places the nests are quite common, and 
I have found’three in a hedge surrounding a single field of no very great 
extent. The eggs are generally five in number, and are rather variable in 
colouring, their ground colour being always white, tinged in some cases with 
blue, in others with green, and in a few specimens with rusty red. The spots 
with which they are marked are quite as variable, sometimes being numerous, 
dark, and gathered into a ring at the large end of the egg, and sometimes 
RED-BACKED SHRIKE.—(Zuneoctonus collurio.) 
