182 
Reviews and Extracts. — J^atural History. 
the Shrike. Yet it appears that it must be a butcher too; and that the name 
^Lanius^ bestowed upon it by Gesner, two hundred and fifty years ago, was not 
lightly given. My neighbour's gamekeeper kills it as a bird of prey ; and tells 
me he has known it draw weak young pheasants through the bars of the breeding 
coops; and others have informed me, they have caught them when banqueting on 
the carcass of some little bird they had captured. All small birds have an antipathy 
to the Shrike, betray anger, and utter the moan of danger, when it approaches 
their nests. I have often heard this signal of distress, and, cautiously approach¬ 
ing to learn the cause, have frequently found that this Butcher-bird occasioned 
it. They will mob, attack, and drive it away, as they do the owl, as if fully 
acquainted with its plundering propensities. Linnaeus attached to it the trivia 
epithet ‘ excubitor, a sentinel ; a very apposite appellation, as this bird seldo » 
conceals itself in a bush, but sits perched upon some upper spray, in an open situa¬ 
tion, heedful of danger, or watching for its prey.’ 
‘‘Audubon informs us that, ‘ when pouncing upon its prey, this bird seizes it 
with the bill first, (if insectivorons,) then secures it under its feet to eat it. When 
coming on a bird or mouse, which it has pursued for some distance, it settles its 
feet at the moment it strikes with its bill the cranium of the object pursued. I 
have seen a bird of this kind in America, he adds, carried to a considerable dis¬ 
tance by a Carolina dove, fastened to the back and head of the dove with beak and 
feet. Although the toes are slender, and the claws comparatively weak, their 
press is powerful; and the bite it inflicts with the bill, can draw blood from a 
robust man’s hand. 
“The flight is interrupted, being performed by jerks; and when perched, the 
tail is in constant motion. Its voice is capable of much variation, and it possesses 
the power of imitating the notes of many of the smaller birds, which it is said to 
use for the purpose of decoying them to their own destruction. Its favourite haunts 
are wooded and inclosed situations. It is extremely courageous, attacking birds 
much its superior in size ; and will not allow a hawk, crow, or magpie, to approach 
its haunts with impunity. Its legs and talons are slender and weak, and are never 
used in tearing up its prey; this is eflected by the bill, which is thick, and fur¬ 
nished with very powerful muscles; and in this respect it strikingly differs from 
the rapacious order.” 
2.—Edinbukgii Philosophical Journal, Robert Jameson, 
Regius Professor of Natural History, Lecturer on Mineralogy, 
Quarterly. 8vo. 7s.Gd. 
The Number for July, contains 
Page 181, An Article.— On the Geological yige of Reptiles. By Gideon 
Mantell, Esq. F.R.S., &c. 
Among the numerous interesting facts which the researches of modern Geologists 
have brought to light, there is none more extraordinary and imposing, than tlie 
discovery that there was a period, when the earth was peopled by oviparous quad¬ 
rupeds of a most appalling magnitude; and that reptiles were the Lords of the 
creation, before the existence of the human race. These creatures of the ancient 
world, many of which from their extraordinary size and form, rival the fabled 
monsters of antiquity, existed in immense numbers, and in latitudes now too cold 
for the habitation of modern oviparous quadrupeds. Their remains occur in strata, 
far more ancient than those which contain the reliquiae of the viviparous animals; 
and are found in marine, as well as in fresh water deposits. Some, from their or¬ 
ganization, have been evidently fitted to live in the sea only ; while others were 
