PASSERINiE. 179 
There are four or five species of this subdivision in Europe, as 
The Sentinel Shrike {L. excubitor, Lin.) — As larg-e as a Thrush, and ash-coloured above, white underneath : the 
wings, tail, and a band crossing the eyes, black ; some white on the scapulars and tail. It resides ail the year in 
France, [and is chiefly known as an uncommon winter visitant in Britain]. 
The Red-backed Shrike (L. collurio, Gm.) — Smaller, with the head and rump ash-coloured, the back and wings 
reddish-brown, a black streak through the eyes, lower parts whitish, tinged with pinkish lilach, wings and tail dull 
black, the side feathers of the latter white at the base externally. [Female, brown above, without transverse stria;, and 
sometimes attaining the masculine livery with age.] It destroys other Birds, young Frogs, and a vast number of 
insects, which it impales on the thorns of bushes, to devour at leisure, [a habit common to the whole genus, whence 
they have derived the name of Butcher-birds. We may here remark that the Shrikes have great power of clutching 
with their toes, and always hold their prey in one foot, resting on the tarsal joint of that foot, unless when they 
have fastened it upon a thorn, when they pull it to pieces in a contrary direction. The present species feeds much 
on small mammalia, as Shrews and the smaller Voles, captures insects on the wing in the manner of a Flycatcher, 
and is a common summer visitant in the southern counties of England]. 
The Wood Shrike {L. rufus, Gm.)— Wings and tail nearly as in the preceding, the band across the eyes meeting 
over the forehead, the head and neck bright rufous, back black, the scapulars, rump, and lower parts, white. 
[Sexes almost similar. A summer visitant, of very rare occurrence in Britain. There are two others in Europe, 
allied to the first, L. minor, Gm., and L. meridionalis, Tern. ; and many more in Asia, Africa, and America, some 
of the former having shorter wings, and a longer and more cuneated tail.] 
There are numerous exotic species with arcuated beaks, the points of which diminish by degrees, till it becomes 
impossible to define the limits between them and the Thrushes. 
The genus La7iio of Vieillot is founded on one of them, the edges of the upper mandible of which are slightly 
angular. It is the Tan gar a mordore of Buffbn, {Tan. atricapilla, Gm.) 
Various species with feeble bills constitute the Laniarius of Vieillot. (Gal. Ois. 143.) 
The Vireoles (Vh'eo) of the same naturalist chiefly differ in the shortness and slenderness of the bill. [They con- 
stitute a very distinct genus, consisting of the warblmg Flycatchers of North America, as Muscicapa olivacea, 
Wils., and many proximate species, which are allied to the Pettychaps group (the restricted Sylvia, or Phillo- 
pneuste) of Europe : they are to a considerable extent baccivorous.] 
Other Shrikes have the superior mandible straight, and abruptly hooked at the tip. They are all 
foreign, and grade towards the Fauvettes and other slender-billed Dentirostres. 
[They constitute the Thamnophilus of Vieillot, as now generally accepted, wherein the plumage is soft and puffy, 
and conspicuously barred across at all ages, these markings being in some instances broken into spots, as in the 
nestling dress of the Thrushes, to which and the true Shrikes they are intermediate, passing to the Thrushes 
through lanthocmcla. They are also related to the Antcatchers, and are indigenous to South America], 
Some of them have a straight and very strong beak, the lower mandible of which is much inflated ; 
As L. lineatus, Leach, {Zool. Misc. pi. vi.), Thamnophilus guttatus, Spix. 
Others, again, with a straight and slender hill, are remarkable for their crests of vertical feathers ; 
As L. plumatus, Shaw ; of which Vieillot makes his genus Prionops, and le Manicup of Buffon {Pipra albifrons, 
Gm.), which has nothing in common with the ti’ue Piprce, beyond a more than usually prolonged junction of the 
two outer toes. M. Vieillot makes of it his genus Pithy s. {Gal. 129.) 
Among these Shrikes, more particularly so called, some other exotic subgenera, that differ more or 
less, require to be specified. Such are 
The Vangas {Vangd), Buffon, — 
Distinguished by a large beak, very much compressed throughout, its tip strongly hooked, and that of 
the lower mandible bent downward. 
The Vanga {L. curvirostris, Gm.), and also some newly-discovered species, as V. destructor, Cuv., &c. 
The Langareys {Ocypterus, Cuv. ; Artamus, Vieillot) — 
Have the beak conical and rounded, without any ridge, somewhat arched towards the tip, with a very 
fine point, slightly emarginated on each side. Their feet are very short, and the wings in particular 
reach beyond the tail, which renders their flight similar to that of a Swallow ; hut they have the 
courage of the Shrikes, and do not fear to attack even the Crow% 
Numerous species inhabit the coasts and islands of the Indian Ocean, where they are continually seen on the 
wing, flying swiftly in pmsuit of insects,* [They are unquestionably allied to the following.] 
The Baritahs {Barita, Cuv. ; Cracticus, Vieillot) — 
tiave a large and straight conical beak, round at its base, — where it extends circularly backward upon 
* Consult a monograph of this genus, by M. Valenciennes, published in Mem. du Mus., tom. vi. p. 20. 
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