WOOD SHRIKE. 567 



Latham says the scapulars are white. The female is reddish on the 

 upper parts of the body, the under parts dirty white ; every where 

 transversely striated with brown. 



The above is nearly the description of Mr. Pennant and Dr. Latham, 

 and which appears to be borrowed from earlier authors, as neither of 

 them seems to have seen the bird. By the last mentioned author two 

 varieties are given ; one with the upper parts of the body rufous, under 

 parts white ; wings wholly brown, with a small spot of white at the 

 base of the quills ; the other differs only in having- the head black, and 

 the tail rather longer. 



We had formerly some doubts whether this might not hereafter 

 prove to be only a variety of the flusher, or the young male in some 

 of the intermediate stages between the nestling and adult plumage, 

 which with us rarely, if ever, appear, as those birds leave us in autumn 

 before they are maturely feathered. From a minute examination of a 

 recent specimen, however, we can no longer doubt, that the Wood 

 Shrike is perfectly distinct from that species. In the make of the two 

 birds, the cuneiform shape of the tail, form of the bill, and size, there 

 is great similitude, at the same time there are characters which must 

 form a specific distinction. When critically examined, it is observable 

 that the markings are different in form as well as colour, but the dusky 

 colour of the upper parts of the body, the black legs, and above all the 

 white scapulars, cannot in any stage or variety, belong to the flusher ; 

 and it is very improbable that the bay head should be given in a state 

 of adolscence, to be discharged again in maturity. 



It must be well known to those who have penetrated deeply into the 

 mysteries of nature, that there are certain colours that, under certain 

 circumstances, denote maturity ; that pure white, full black, and the 

 more gaudy tints, are usually marks of maturity. Thus we cannot sup- 

 pose that at any age or season the flusher would become black on the 

 back with white scapulars, or possess a bay crown or black legs, except 

 by accident, a mere lusus naturce ; and that cannot now be suspected. 

 Besides, if we attend to the plumage of the flusher, which constantly 

 breeds with us in considerable numbers, we find that all the young, 

 when they leave us in the month of September, very much resemble 

 the adult female ; and the whole return to us again in about six months, 

 in their full sexual plumage ; a proof that the young arrive at maturity 

 the first year, and propagate the ensuing spring. With this certainty, 

 it would be most inconsistent with all the known laws of nature to sup- 

 pose that the young flusher changed its plumage to that of the Wood 

 Shrike, and again to that of the adult flusher, in the course of the few 



