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Genus I.— LANIUS, Linn. SHRIKE, or BUTCHER-BIRD. 



Bill of moderate length, strong, compressed; upper mandible with the 

 dorsal line a little arched, towards the end decurved, the sides convex, the 

 edges direct, with a large prominence succeeded by a deep notch, the tip 

 decurved and acute; lower mandible with the angle short and wide, the 

 dorsal line convex, the sides convex, the edges inflected, the tip ascending, 

 acute. Nostrils basal, lateral, oval, concealed by the bristly feathers. Head 

 large, broadly ovate; neck short; body robust. Tarsus rather short, com- 

 pressed, slender, with eight scutella; toes small, the first stout, the lateral 

 nearly equal. Claws rather large, arched, compressed, extremely acute. 

 Plumage soft and blended. Bristles stiff. Wings of ordinary length, first 

 quill very short, fourth longest. Tail long, graduated, or rounded. 



THE GREAT AMERICAN SHRIKE. 



"+- Lanius Borealis, Vieill. 

 PLATE CCXXXVI Male, Female, and Young. 



Although this species spends the greater part of the year in our most 

 Eastern States, and in countries still farther north, many individuals remain 

 in the mountainous districts of the Middle States, and breed there. In 

 severe winters, it migrates as far south as the neighbourhood of the city of 

 Natchez, on the Mississippi, where I have shot several and seen many more. 

 In Kentucky it is not a rare bird at that season, but along the coasts of our 

 Southern States I have never met with it, nor have I heard of its having 

 been seen there. 



In spring and summer it retires from the low lands of the Middle States 

 to the mountainous districts, where it generally remains until autumn. 



