HOODED SHRIKE. 173 
without fallmg. We see in this how an All-wise Pro- 
vidence, while in the organization of beings, He bestows 
upon all, the organs necessary to their habits of life, 
deprives them in the same manner of whatever might 
mmpede the due performance of their several functions. 
A great and sublime lesson to those who would rule 
over our fellow-creatures. We must not only make laws 
to control the wicked, but deprive them of the means 
of injurmg themselves and others. 
The Tchagra is about the size of our European Grey 
Shrike; its tail, very slightly sloped, is. simply rounded 
at the end; the upper part of the head is of a brownish 
black, slightly shaded with olive; the back of the neck 
and scapulars and upper part of the body are of a tan- 
brown colour; throat whitish. A white band springs 
from the corner of the eye, and is prolonged from 
thence with a black line, which is parallel. The neck 
above and the body below is ash-coloured; the great 
covers of the wings and the upper edges of the quill 
feathers are of a ferruginous red, the rest brown, with a 
greenish shade above; below entirely ash-coloured. The 
two middle feathers of the tail are of a brownish grey, 
imperceptibly shaded with a deeper colour; the others 
are blackish, all tipped with white. Beak horny black, 
as well as the feet; iris brown. 
This bird frequents the most covered and thickest 
places; it would be very difficult to discover were it 
not continually betrayed by its song. The male has a 
note which is heard far off, and which is very well 
expressed by ‘tcha-tcha, tcha-gra,’ from which Le Vaillant 
derived its name. 
The female is rather smaller than the male, and has 
not the upper part of its head black; in every other 
respect they are exactly alike, except a rather darker 
VOL. I, 2A 
