BUTCHER-BIRD. 65 



the end ; irides dusky ; the mouth beset with strong bristles. From 

 the base of the upper mandible to the eye a black stripe; the 

 plumage of the whole upper part is a pale ash-colour, except the scapu- 

 lars, which are white ; the coverts of the wings black ; quill-feathers 

 black, with a white bar across their middle, and many of them tipped 

 with white ; the under parts, from chin to vent, white ; the tail consists 

 of twelve feathers of unequal length, which gives it a cuneiform shape ; 

 the two middle ones are black, the next slightly tipped with white, on 

 the rest the white gradually increases obliquely to the outer feather, 

 which is only black at the base ; legs black. 



The female differs chiefly in the under parts, which are of a dirty 

 white, marked with numerous semicircular brown lines. 



A variety is spoken of, which has the lesser wing coverts and scapu- 

 lars somewhat of a rufous-brown. It is said to make a nest of heath 

 and moss, lined with wool and gossamer, and to lay six eggs of a dull 

 olive green, spotted with black at the larger end ; "those in my possession 

 are reddish white without any spot.* 1 



The Great Cinereous Shrike, or Butcher-Bird, is rather a scarce bird 

 in England. It is said to breed in some of our mountainous situations, 

 coming in May, and departing in September. However this may be in 

 general, the only two which came under our inspection were both males ; 

 one was killed on the fifteenth, and the other on the twenty-second of 

 November, in Wiltshire. 



*By most of the British Ornithologists, says Selby, it is mentioned as 

 arriving in the spring, and departing in autumn ; which would imply 

 that it breeds in this country, and is a regular periodical visitant. 

 From this view of its habits I must be permitted to dissent ; all the 

 specimens that have come under my observation, have been killed in 

 the months of November, December, and January, nor have I ever 

 heard of an individual during the summer months. It is a solitary bird, 

 being most frequently found single, though I have more than once met 

 with a male and female together. 



This bird is sometimes trained for catching small birds in Russia. 

 It is said to kill rats and mice, and is valued in some countries for that 

 property. When it has killed its prey, which consists of small birds, 

 insects, and the smaller class of animals, it does not tear it like the hawk, 

 but fixes it to a thorn and then tears it in pieces with its bill. Selby 

 thus describes the singular manner in which this bird devours its prey. 

 " It had just killed a hedge-sparrow, (Accentor modularis,) the skin of 



1 See Architecture of Birds, p. 3. 

 F 



