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Genus I.— LANIUS, Linn. SHRIKE, or BUTCHER-BIRD. 
Bill of moderate length, strong, compressed ; upper mandible with the 
dorsal line a little arched, towards the end decurved, the sides convex, the 
edges direct, with a large prominence succeeded by a deep notch, the tip 
decurved and acute ; lower mandible with the angle short and wide, the 
dorsal line convex, the sides convex, the edges inflected, the tip ascending, 
acute. Nostrils basal, lateral, oval, concealed by the bristly feathers. 
Head large, broadly ovate ; neck short ; body robust. Tarsus rather short, 
compressed, slender, with eight scutella; toes small, the first stout, the 
lateral nearly equal. Claws rather large, arched, compressed, extremely 
acute. Plumage soft and blended. Bristles stiff. Wings of ordinary length, 
first quill very short, fourth longest. Tail long, graduated, or rounded. 
THE GREAT AMERICAN SHRIKE. 
Lanius Borealis, Vieill. 
PLATE CCXXXYI. — Male, Female, and Young. 
Although this species spends the greater part of the year in our most 
Eastern States, and in countries still farther north, many individuals remain 
in the mountainous districts of the Middle States, and breed there. In 
severe winters it migrates as far south as the neighbourhood of the city of 
Natchez, on the Mississippi, where I have shot several and seen many more. 
In Kentucky it is not a rare bird at that season, but along the coast of our 
Southern States I have never met with it, nor have I heard of its having 
been seen there. 
In spring and summer it retires from the low lands of the Middle States 
to the mountainous districts, where it generally remains until autumn. 
