315 



RED-BACKED SHRIKE. 



Lanius CoUurio. L. capite cam fascia oculari nigra, dorso tec* 



tricibusque ferrugineis, pectore subroseo, Cauda nigra. 

 Shrike with grey head, black eye-streak, ferruginous back and 



wing-coverts, blossom-coloured breast, and black tail. 

 Lanius Collurio. L. cauda suhcuneiformi, dorso griseo, rectrici" 



bus quatuor intermediis unicoloribus, rostra plumbeo. Lin. 



Syst, Nat. 



Lesser Butcher-Bird, called in Yorkshire Flusher. Will, orn, 

 Red-Backed Shrike. Penu. Brit, Zool. Lath, syn. 



This is a very elegant bird, and in our own 

 country a far more common species than the 

 Grey Shrike, like which it visits us in the spring, 

 and retires in autumn. The length of the male, 

 according to Mr. Pennant, is seven inches and a 

 half: the bill blacky the irides hazel; the head 

 and lower part of the back of a fme light grey : 

 across the eyes, from the bill, runs a broad black 

 stroke : the upper part of the back and coverts of 

 the wings are of a bright ferruginous colour; the 

 breast, belly, and sides are of an elegant blossom- 

 colour: the two middle feathers of the tail are 

 longest, and entirely black; the lower part of the 

 others white, and the exterior webs of the out- 

 most feather on each side wholly so. In the 

 female the stroke across the eyes is of a reddish 

 brown; the head of a dull rust-colour mixed with 

 grey; the breast, belly, and sides of a dirty white, 

 marked with semicircular dusky lines: the tail of 

 a deep brown, the outward feather on each side 

 excepted, the exterior webs of which are white, 



