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SHRIKE. 
214 
the moles. They live in holes which they dig in 
the earth, and seldom leave them till the even- 
ing ; and they feed on insects and worms. They 
are covered with hair, and have on each flank a 
small band of stiff, thickly-set sete, and dis- 
charge from that part of their body, during the 
rutting season, an odorous humour. The shrew 
mouse or common shrew, Sorex araneus, is grey 
above and ash-coloured below, and has white 
teeth, exposed ears, and square tail. It occurs 
in fields, meadows, and similar situations. It 
has been accused, but falsely, of producing a 
disease in horses by its bite, Cats kill it, but 
will not eat it.—The water-shrew, Sorex fodiens, 
is rather larger than the common one; and is 
black above and white below ; and has red-tipped 
incisors, partially hidden ears, and a terminally 
compressed tail. It frequents the banks of 
brooks, and has amphibious habits. It is very 
rare in Britain, and was at one time supposed, 
though incorrectly, to have been exterminated. 
SHRIKE,—zoologically Zanius. A genus of 
birds of the dentirostrous tribe of passerine. 
Their bill is triangular at the base, and com- 
pressed on the sides. They live in families, and 
build neatly on trees, and imitate part of the 
song of musical birds in their vicinity, and fly 
irregularly and precipitately, uttering shrill cries. 
The great grey shrike, or great butcher-bird, 
Lanius excubitor, is as large as a thrush, ash- 
coloured above, white below, and black in the 
wings and tail, and has a black band round the 
eye, and some white on the scapulars, on the 
base of the wing-quills, and on the external edge 
of the lateral tail-quills. It remains in France 
throughout the year, but is only an occasional 
visiter in England, chiefly between autumn and 
spring. It feeds on mice, shrews, frogs, lizards, 
small birds, and insects; and first kills its prey, 
and then transfixes it on a thorn or on some 
similar object, and then tears it thence piece- 
meal. 
The flayer or small butcher-bird or red-backed 
shrike, Zandus colluris, has a total length of about 
73 inches. It isash-coloured on the head and the 
rump, fawn-coloured on the back and the wings, 
whitish below, black on the wing-quills with an 
edging of fawn-colour, and black in the tail-quills, 
| but white on the base of the lateral ones, and it 
has a black band over the eye. ‘This species has 
similar habits of treating its prey to the preced- 
ing, and hence shares with it the popular name 
of butcher-bird. 
The woodchat shrike, Lantus rufus, resembles 
the flayer in size, in mode of feeding, and in most 
of its habits; but it differs in plumage, and is of 
rarer occurrence. Its forehead, its back, its 
wings, its wing-coverts, and the space round its 
eyes are black ; the top of its head and of its 
neck is livid red; and its throat, its breast, its 
belly, and other parts are white. 
SHRUB. A ‘ow, bushy, ligneous plant, dif- 
SHYING. 
but in denseness of habit and in feathering down 
to the ground,—either sending up several stems 
from the root crown, or commencing its ramifi- 
cations from one stem immediately above the 
surface of the ground. Good examples of hardy, 
common shrubs are furze, juniper, and holly. 
SHRUBBERY. An ornamental collection of 
shrubs and dwarf trees, or a pleasure-ground, of 
the size and nature of a garden, decorated prin- 
cipally with these plants. The construction of a 
shrubbery, both as to disposition of the ground 
and as to selection of the shrubs, is exceedingly 
various, and depends much on taste and on the 
nature of the locality, yet ought to be determined, 
on the whole, by the general principles of land- 
scape gardening. See the article LanpscarE 
GARDENING. 
SHRUBBY TREFOIL, — botanically Pielea. 
A small genus of ornamental shrubs, of the tere- 
binth family. The three-leaved species, Ptelea 
trifoliata, is a native of Virginia and Carolina, 
and was introduced to Britain near the begin- 
ning of last century. It commonly attains a 
height of about 10 or 12 feet. Its branches 
are not very numerous, and are brittle, full of 
pith, and covered with a smooth purplish bark, 
and, when broken, emit a strong scent ; its leaves 
are trifoliate, and stand on long footstalks, irre- 
gularly on the branches; its folioles are oval, 
spear-shaped, and pretty large when fully out, 
and have a pleasant, strong green colour above, 
and a lighter colour and smooth surface be- 
low, and are late in exfoliating and in attaining 
their full size; and its flowers come out in 
bunches at the end of the branches, and have a 
whitish-green colour, and bloom in June and 
July. This plant thrives in any common soil, 
and may be propagated from either seeds, cut- 
tings, or layers. 
SHUCK. A husk or shell; also, a shock or 
stook of twelve sheaves. 
SHUGGING. The shedding of the seeds of 
over-ripe grain at harvest. 
SHYING. A horse’s starting suddenly aside, 
either from skittishness, from fear, or from the 
force of habit. One cause of it is mere consti- 
tutional or mischievous playfulness ; another is 
oddity or frightsomeness in strange objects or 
new circumstances ; another is the recollection, 
by association of place or otherwise, of cruelty 
or accident ; and a fourth is dimness of sight or 
incipient blindness, induced by advanced age or 
by disease. Combined firmness and kindness is 
the proper treatment of the evil when arising 
from either the first, the second, or the third of 
these causes; and discrimination and encourage- 
ment, even more than firmness, when it arises 
from the last. Severity, in every case, is very 
injurious ; and caressing, in most cases, is bad. 
No more, in most instances, should be done with 
a saddle horse in the act of shying than to em- 
ploy sufficient steadiness of hand for the effect- 
ing of due restraint. 
fering from a tree, not only in lowness of stature, 
oe | 
