SHRIKE. 



97 



122— SUPERB SHRIKE. 



Lanius superbus, Shaw's Zool. vii. 293. pi. 39. 

 Le Bee de Fer, Levail. Afr. ii. 12U pi. 79. 

 Sparactes, (Illiger), Tern. Man. i. p. lix. 



THIS is somewhat stouter than a Blackbird, and above nine inches 

 long. Bill one inch, prodigiously strong, the inner edge of the upper 

 mandible a little undulated, inclining downwards at the end, colour 

 iron grey ; nostrils at the base, covered with a few bristles ; tongue 

 small, triangular, fixed to the bottom of the throat; plumage in 

 general black ; on the forehead an erect crest of several unequal 

 feathers, inclining forwards over the bill, the longest one inch and a 

 half, hollowed out in a channel, several of the others very short; 

 the chin and throat are deep red, with a mixture of yellow, and the 

 feathers rather stiff; across the middle of the belly a broad band of 

 fine yellow, interspersed with a few streaks of red, and on the sides 

 a few black dots; rump and upper tail coverts greenish yellow; 

 second quills outwardly fringed with white, and on the exterior edge 

 of the quills a mixture of white ; tail three inches long, and the 

 wings, when closed, reach to about the middle of it ; legs bluish ; 

 claws black. 



We are indebted to M. Levaillant for an account of this singular 

 bird, which he thinks approaching to the Barbet Genus, but more 

 properly placed in that of the Shrike, from the toes being situated 

 three before and two behind. M. Levaillant has only seen two 

 specimens, one in his own possession, and was informed that they 

 were inhabitants of some of the South Sea Isles. 



M. Temminck joins M. Illiger in separating this bird from the 

 Shrikes, and forming a new Genus, under the name of Sparactes. 



VOL. II. O 



