LARKS, TITMICE, HONEY-EATERS, THEIR KINDRED 
135 
coloured. The females are dull- 
coloured, whilst the males lose their 
beauty in the winter season. These 
birds are inhabitants of the tropical 
regions of Africa, India, and Australia, 
and seem to revel in the burning 
rays of the noonda)" sun. 
Nearly allied to the Sun- 
birds are the Flower-peckers of 
the Indian and Australian regions. 
These are all small birds, remark- 
able as much for the beauty of 
their nests as for the splendour 
of their plumage. The nests are 
purse-like structures, made of white 
cotton-like material, and suspended 
from a branch instead of, as usual, 
resting on it. One of the most 
beautiful birds of the whole group, 
which includes numerous species, is 
the Australian Diamoxd-BIRD. Of a 
general ashy-grey colour, this species 
is splashed all over with spots of 
red, yellow, orange, and black, whilst 
the tail-coverts are rich dark red. 
RED-BACKED SHRIKES 
Photo by IV, Reid‘\ \_PP'ishaiu^ N.B. 
AUSTRALIAN MAGPIE 
common South Auitralian form^ knoixrn also as the 
Piping-crQ%u 
Also called Butcher-birdsy from their habit of killing small birds and mammals 
and hanging them up on thorns 
CHAPTER XVII 
SHRIKES, THR USHES AND THEIR ALLIES, 
SIVALLOJVS, LYRE-BIRDS, CHATTERERS, 
BROAD-BILLS, ETC. 
T he Shrike Family are an exceedingly interesting 
group of birds, of world-wide distribution and of 
great diversity of appearance, varying in size from 
a bird as small as a titmouse to one as large as a 
thrush, and presenting a considerable range of coloration, 
some being very brightly, others dull coloured. From 
the hooked beak, and the presence of a notch in the 
tip of the upper jaw, they were considered by the older 
naturalists to be allies of the Birds of Prey, a decision 
still further supported by their hawk-like habit of capturing 
living prey in the shape of small birds and mice; whilst 
the remarkable custom of impaling their victims, still 
living, on thorns has earned for them the popular name 
of Butcher-birds. The limits of the family, owing to 
the diversity of the forms involved, have not as yet been 
finally determined by naturalists, some having included 
species which others hold have no place there. 
