72 
Synopsis of the Birds 
on the other. Attack the most powerful of the feathered 
tribe, which they drive from their nests. Live in families. 
Build in trees and bushes ; lay 5 — 7 eggs. Flight short, 
rapid and irregular : wag the tail. Voice loud, stridulous : 
imitate the song of other birds. 
Found in all parts of the globe, except South America. 
Resemble the Accipitres, especially in habits; notwithstand- 
ing allied to Corvus, but much more closely to Turdus, 
Myiothera, and other small, feeble birds. 
92. Lanius septentrionalis, Gm. (li.) Light slate ; beneath 
white, undulated with brown ; frontlet whitish; wings and tail 
black ; tail feathers, excepting the two middle ones, partly 
white ; third primary longest ; fourth equal to the second.* 
Great American Shrike or Butcher bird , Lanius excubitor , 
Wils. Am. Orn . i. p. 74 . pL 5 . fig- 1 . Lanius borealis , Vieill. 
Inhabits north of both continents : in winter only in Penn- 
sylvania : rather rare. 
93. Lanius ludovicianus, L Dark slate; beneath white; 
frontlet black ; wings and tail black ; tail feathers, four mid- 
dle ones excepted, partly white ; second primary longest ; 
first and fifth equal. f 
Logger-head Shrike , Lanius carolinensis , Wils . Am. Orn . 
Hi. p. bl.pl. •Jig* 8. Lanius ardosiaceus , Vieill. 
Inhabits the southern states. 
20. MYIOTHERA, 
Turdus , Lanius , L. Gm. Lath. Briss. 
Myiothera , III . Cuv. Temm. Ranz. Myrmecophaga , Lacep . 
Myrmoihera, Tamnophilus , Vieill. 
In Lanius excubitor of Europe, the second is longest, and the fourth 
considerably shorter. 
f In Lanius excubitor, and Lanius septentrionalis, the first primary is 
equal to the sixth. 
