LANIINJ5. LANIUS. 
91 
width ; coeca very small and cylindrical. Eyes of mode- 
rate size. Nostrils roundish or elliptical. Aperture of 
ear large. Trachea with four pairs of inferior laryngeal 
'muscles. Legs rather short, of moderate strength ; tarsus 
I rather slender, compressed, with seven anterior scutella, 
sharp-edged behind ; toes four, rather small, compressed, 
the outer and middle united at the base ; the first much 
I stouter and long, the lateral nearly equal, all scutellate 
I above ; claws rather long, arched, much compressed, late- 
I rally grooved, extremely acute. Plumage soft andblend- 
I ed, the feathers ovate and rounded ; a row of stiff! sh 
’ bristles at the base of the upper mandible on each side ; 
I wings of moderate length, broad, rounded, the first quill 
very small, the third, fourth, and fifth longest ; tail of 
twelve feathers. 
The Laniinse are in a manner intermediate between 
the Myiotherinse, Turdinse, Corvinse, and Falconinse, of 
which they combine the characters. They resemble the 
Falconinae in their decurved and toothed upper mandible, 
as well as in their habits, many of the species being 
addicted to the pursuit of small quadrupeds, birds, and 
reptiles. Their general food, however, is insects, worms, 
mollusca, and fruits. They are chiefly natives of warm 
climates, so that few species occur in Britain, where none 
are permanently resident. 
GENUS XXY. LANIUS. SHRIKES OR BUTCHER 
BIRDS. 
Bill rather short, strong, pentagonal at the base, higher 
than broad, much compressed toward the end ; upper man- 
dible with its dorsal line convex, the ridge rather narrow, 
the edges with a marked projection and a sinus, near the 
considerably decurved, compressed, slender, acute tip ; lo'wer 
mandible with the tip curved a little upwards, slender, acute. 
Mouth rather wide ; tongue sagittate at the base, tapering, 
thin-edged, with the tip slit and lacerated ; oesophagus of 
