THE SHRIKES. 
159 
latter number. They are distinguished from those of the Gold- 
Crest by their reddish tinge, which almost amounts to pale 
chocolate. Most clutches show a faint ring round the larger 
end of the egg, where the reddish dots are clustered togethei, 
but in many specimens the whole of the egg is dusted with 
tiny dots. Axis, 0-55 inch ; diam., 0-4. 
THE RUBY-CREST. REG ULUS CALENDULA. 
An example of this American species is in the British 
Museum, by which institution it was acquired with the rest of 
the Gould collection after Mr. John Gould’s death. It is 
said to have been shot by the late Mr. Dewar, near Loch 
Lomond, in 1852, but the history of this specimen seems 
scarcely authenticated. 
THE SHRIKES. FAMILY LANIIDH5. 
The “ Butcher”-birds, as they are sometimes called, from the 
way in which some of them impale small animals, insects, &c., 
on thorns, are a somewhat large assemblage of insectivorous 
birds, which have generally a hooked bill with a notch near the 
end of the upper mandible. r l his resemblance to the bill of a 
Hawk caused many of the older naturalists to class the family 
near the Accifiitres, or Birds of Prey. The likeness is, however, 
merely superficial, and a study of the other characters proves 
that the Shrikes are thoroughly Passerine birds. Osteologicallv 
considered, the skull of a Shrike has certain featuies which 
distinguish it from the majority of the Passeres , and the piinci- 
pal character is the spiny process which forms the prolongation 
of the inner posterior angle of the palatine-bones. Another 
characteristic of the Shrikes is the barred plumage of the nest- 
lings, which in the bulk of the Passerine birds are uniform in 
colour, or else spotted or streaked. The Shrikes are a very 
numerous family, and in some form or anolher are spiead 
over nearly the whole extent of the globe. The genus Lamus 
however, embraces the northern forms of the family, with which 
alone the present work is concerned. 
THE TRUE SHRIKES. GENUS LANIUS. 
Lamus, Linn., Syst. Nat., i., p. 134 (1766). 
Type, L. excubitor , Linn. 
The characters enumerated above are those which distin- 
