CLARKE'S NUTCRACKER. 129 



with blue; seven of the secondaries largely tipped with white, upper tail- 

 coverts greyish-black; tail pure white, excepting the two middle feathers 

 and the greater part of the inner webs of the next pair, which are black, 

 glossed with blue; lower wing-coverts dusky, some tipped with white; 

 lower tail-coverts pure white. 



Length to end of tail 12 inches; bill along the ridge 1 T 8 2, along the edge 

 of lower mandible lyf; wing from flexure 7y£; tail 5|; tarsus l T 4 j; hind 

 toe y| , its claw T 8 2; middle toe y|, its claw T 6 j. 



The female is similar to the male. 



FAMILY XIX.— LAMINA. SHRIKES. 



Bill short, of moderate length, stout, broader than high at the base, com- 

 pressed toward the end; the gap-line slightly arched, the ridge narrow, the 

 notch and dentiform process large, the tip narrow and decurved. Head large, 

 roundish, ovate; neck short; body compact. Legs of moderate length; 

 tarsus compressed, with seven anterior scutella; toes moderate, compressed; 

 hind toe rather stout, lateral about equal, the outer adherent at the base. 

 Claws arched, compressed, acute. Plumage soft and blended. Bristles 

 rather strong. Wings and tail various. Roof of upper mandible narrow, 

 with a median ridge; tongue slender, concave #bove, horny toward the end, 

 with the margins lacerated, and the tip slit; oesophagus wide, uniform; pro- 

 ventriculus elliptical; stomach broadly elliptical or roundish; its muscular 

 coat thin, the epithelium dense and longitudinally rugous; intestine of mode- 

 rate length; cceca very small; cloaca oblong or globular. Trachea simple; 

 four pairs of inferior laryngeal muscles. 



Vol. IV. 18 



