616 LAN 
L. excubitor; and his plate of it is very incorreft, neither 
giving an idea of its beautiful colours nor of its true fhape. 
It is indeed one of the molt beautiful of the African birds. 
One ftriking difference, fays Vaillant, which alone were 
fufficient to mark it a feparate fpecies from the excubitor, 
is the fhape of the tail, which in the blue thrike is fq.uare, 
that is, the feathers are of equal length, whereas, in the 
other fpecies, the tail, as we have feen, is tapering, the 
length of the feathers diminilhing from the middle to the 
fides. The bill is very different alfo. 
The blue fhrike is fomewhat lefs than the collurio, or 
common butcher-bird ; and is reprefented on the fame 
Plate, at fig. 2. The head, hind part of the neck, fca- 
pulars, back, and upper tail-coverts, are of the pure ft 
and brighteft ultramarine blue; all the wing-coverts, as 
■well as the outer barbs of the wing-quills, the two mid¬ 
dle ones of the tail, and the outer edges of the lateral ones, 
are of the fame fine blue with the furface of the body ; 
but the'tips of the wing and tail quills, and their inner 
barbs, are blackilh. Between the noftrils and eyes, and 
at the top of the throat, the feathers are like black velvet. 
The reft of the under part of the plumage is of a ftiining 
white, except the legs, which are bluifh. The eyes are 
brown j feet and nails black. The female is fomewhat 
fmaller than the male : her white is not fo bright, and the 
blue affumes a fhade of green upon the rump; there is no 
white between the eyes and on the throat; the front of 
the neck is white; the reft of the under part cinereous 
grey. The young one is dark green on all thofe parts 
which in the adult are blue, and that is cinereous grey 
which is afterwards to become perfectly white. From a 
young one of this fpecies Brilfon feems to have taken his 
defcription of what he calls the little green ftirike of Ma- 
dagafcar, (L. viridis;) for they agree in general except in 
the length of the wdngs, which in this fpecies really ex¬ 
tend only about two-thirds the length, though in Brifion 
they reach to the extremity. But Briffon’s meafures and 
proportions are oftentimes very incorreft, on account of 
the ftuffed fpecimens he defcribes having been very badly 
prepared, the wings fet on in the wrong place, &c. 
I This fpecies lives entirely upon in lefts ; it is very flay, 
efpecially the male, who is often feen perched on a bulh, 
but flies away upon the approach of any one. Being 
found not at Madagafcar only, it has been thought better 
to call it Amply the blue Jhrike ; for the names of coun¬ 
tries to defignate certain fpecies of birds are generally in¬ 
correct, as a bird has feldom been known to dwell in 
one part of a country exclufively ; at leaft fucceeding tra¬ 
vellers have commonly found the deficiency of fuch names. 
Yet in cabinets of natural hiftory it is very proper to note 
the country in which each fpecimen was taken, and even 
the canton or province if poflible; and in national col- 
leftions, deftined for general ftudy, care Ihould be taken 
to colleft of each fpecies, the male, the female, the eggs, 
the young, the nelt, and all the varieties, if poflible, from 
countries the fartheft apart from each other. Our king- 
fifher, for inftance, is found not only throughout Europe, 
from the frozen regions of the north even to Italy, but 
alfo in Egypt, China, Bengal, &c« Had we then an op¬ 
portunity of comparing fpecimens from each of thefe dif¬ 
ferent countries, we might be able to judge how far a fpe¬ 
cies may vary, according to climate and alteration of food. 
39. Lanius leucorhynchus, the white-belled fhrike: 
body above blackifli, beneath whitifh ; bill, breaft, belly, 
and rump, white. The wings in this fpecies are very 
long; they, as well as the tail, legs and claws, are black; 
tail equal. Inhabits Manilla; length feven inches. 
40. Lanius ferrugineus, the ferruginous-bellied fhrike : 
body above black brown ; throat and breaft dirty-white ; 
belly ferruginous. Bill lead-colour; tail dufky-brown ; 
legs black. Inhabits the Cape ; nine inches long. 
41. Lanius Tabuenfis, the Tabuan fhrike: body above 
olive; chin and breaft cinereous; belly yellowilh-brown ; 
tail and legs brown. Bill brown 5 crown greenifh 5 tem- 
I u s. 
pies olive-brown : wings black on the Outer edge ; fecon* 
dary quill-feathers black-brown edged with dirty white. 
Inhabits the Friendly Iflands; near nine inches long. 
42. Lanius Pacificus, the Pacific fhrike: black; head 
and neck verging to greenifh ; belly and tail more dufky. 
Bill dufky, three quarters of an inch long ; feathers of the 
head and neck very narrow ; tail three inches long ; toes 
divided to the bafe, the middle one very long. Inhabits 
the South-Sea Iflands; eleven inches long. 
43. Lanius feptentrionalis, the northern fhrike: bill 
black ; legs lead-colour : body above brown ; chin and 
breaft cinereous; belly and vent brownifh. Noftrils round¬ 
ed, fmall ; at the bafe of the upper mandible five or fix 
black briftles; four middle tail-feathers brown, the reft 
within white at the tip, all two inches long; legs fhort; 
claws ftrong, brown. Inhabits North America ; near eight 
inches long. 
44. Lanius pileatus, the black-capped fhrike: head 
black, crefted ; body cinereous ; throat and breaft black ; 
wing-coverts barred with white ; tail tipped with white. 
Female without creft ; crown blackifn ; throat and breaft 
cinereous. Inhabits Cayenne ; fix inches long. 
45. Lanius viridis, the green fhrike: upper furface dull 
green, under white ; tail black. Wings long, as in the 
leucorhynchus ; the two middle tail-feathers dulky green, 
the reft black at the outer edge ; legs and claws black. 
Inhabits Madagafcar: length near fix inches. 
46. Lanius leucocephalus, the white-headed fhrike: 
head white ; the upper fide of the body greenifh-black, 
beneath black; the bill, feet, and nails, lead-coloured. 
It is eight inches long. 
47. LaniusDominicanus, the Dominican fhrike: black; 
bill and rump white. The Dominican fhrike is bigger 
than a fparrow, and rather longer. The bill is greyifh, 
conical, and ftrong; the bafe belet with briftles, pointing 
forwards ; the head, neck, breaft, back, wings, and tail, 
are black 5 the belly and rump white; the wings reach 
near an inch beyond the middle of the tail; the thighs 
are black. It inhabits the Philippine iflands, and is a 
bold courageous bird ; it flies with great rapidity, fre¬ 
quently hovering in the air like a fwallow. It is a great 
enemy to the raven ; to whom, though much bigger, it 
bids defiance, and even provokes to combat; the battle 
often lafts half an hour, and generally ends with the re¬ 
treat of the raven ; rather, perhaps, from being teafed out 
than much injured by its little enemy. 
48. Lanius Panayenfis, the Panay fhrike : bill and legs 
black ; head, throat, breaft, and belly, red ; crown, wings, 
and tail, brown ; irides fiery. Inhabits the ifland of Pa¬ 
nay ; feven inches long. 
49. Lanius albus, the white fhrike : white ; bill, tail, 
legs, and greater part of the wings, black. Primary quill- 
feathers with a white band. Inhabits Panay ; nearly twice 
as large as the laft. 
50. Lanius varius, the white-fhouldered fhrike : body- 
above afhy-brown ; chin and breaft yellow-buff; belly, 
rump, and vent, dirty brownifh white; inter-fcapulars 
white ; tail and wings brown ; bill and legs black ; front 
and cheeks with paler fpots. Inhabits Brafil. 
51. Lanius ncevius, the fpotted flirike : body above 
black, beneath cinereous; all the wing-coverts with an 
oblong white fpot. Bill and legs black ; fome of the fea¬ 
thers on the fore-part of the back tipt with white ; quiil- 
feathers edged with white ; tail-feathers white at the tip. 
Inhabits Cayenne ; fix inches long. 
52. Lanius obfcurus, the duficy fhrike : body above 
duiky-black, beneath white; over each eye a white line. 
Bill horn-colour; wings and tail more dufky than the 
body; legs brown. Inhabits America; fize of the pre¬ 
ceding. 
53. Lanius fulcus, thebrdwn flirike: body above brown j 
beneath white; lores, tips of the fecondary quill-feathers, 
and edges of the primary, yellowifh. Bill horn-colour, 
black at the tip 5 legs black. 
■ 54 * 
