Family UPUPID/E.
Varied indeed are the opinions entertained by ornithologists respecting the situation this family of birds
should occupy in our systems. For my own part, I have always considered its proper place to be near to,
if not associated with, the Hornbills (Bucerotidce) ; hence this is perhaps not the situation in which it would
appear in an arraugement of the birds o f the world ; but it is the best I can assign to it in a limited fauna
like that o f the British Islands.
Genus U p u pa .
About five species o f this very singular form are known ; they inhabit Europe, Asia, Africa, and
Madagascar.
60. U pu pa e p o p s ...................................................................................................................................Vol. II. PI. XII.
H oopo e .
An accidental visitor to England, where it generally arrives in May; and its doom is sealed as soon as
it makes its appearance: so attractive a creature immediately arresting attention, it soon falls a victim to
the g u n u e r; and its mounted skin is found in the houses o f the men o f Kent and other southern counties.
Family LANIIDiE.
The Shrikes, comprising many species, are very generally distributed over the surface o f the globe,
particularly in the Old World. Some o f the typical members inhabit Britain and North America, and are
also found in Asia and Africa, but not in the islands of the Eastern archipelago, nor in Australia. They arc
all, to a certain extent, destroyers o f other b ird s ; but their chief food consists o f insects, their larvae, and
mollusks. In disposition they are cruel, spitting their victims on thorns o r between the interstices o f the
branches o f tre e s ; for what precise purpose is not well understood.
Genus L a n iu s .
61. L a n iu s ex cu b ito k . . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. II. PI. XIII.
G rea t G rey S h r ik e .
An accidental visitor, which may occasionally, but does not usually, breed in this country. Its proper
home is the continent o f Europe, beyond the boundary of which it becomes more and more scarce.
62. L a n iu s m in o r . . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. II. PI. XIV.
R o se - br ea st ed S h r ik e .
A native o f Spain, Turkey, and Greece, which has been killed two or three times in England.
Genus E nneoctonus.
The members of this genus differ considerably from the preceding, inasmuch as, instead of the sexes
being alike, they vary in colour and markings. Species of this form are found in Europe, Asia, and Africa.
63. E n n eoctonus co l lu rio . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. II. PI. XV.
B u t c h e r b ir d .
A migrant from the south in May, and returning thither early in autumn.
64. E n neoctonus r u fu s . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. II. PI. XVI.
W ood-C h a t .
Although this bird has been killed in England several times, it can only be regarded as an accidental
visitor. It is said to have bred in this country; but, for myself, I have never seen an authenticated egg
which had been taken herein.
Family MUSCICAPIDAE.
The various members of this family are very generally dispersed over the countries of the Old World.
When I published my Plates o f the two following species, the late Mr. George R. Gray had recently
indicated, in his ‘ Catalogue of British Birds,’ that the old Muscicapa atricapilla pertained to the genus
Muscicapa, and the M. grisola to the genus Butalis; but in his more recent ‘ Hand-list ’ he makes the latter
the type of Muscicapa, and places the former under Sundevall’s subgenus Hedymela.
Genus M uscicapa.
65. M uscicapa a t r i c a p i l l a ....................................................................................... Vol. II. PI. XVII.
P ie d F ly catcher.
A well-known migrant to Britain, chiefly frequenting the northern portion of England, where it breeds.
I t is rarely met with in Scotland, and never in Ireland. For an interesting note by Mr. Stevenson on a
singular immigration of this species on the Suffolk coast in September 1869, see the ‘ Zoologist ’ for that
year, p. 1492.
. . . Vol. II. PI. XVIII. 6 6 . M uscicapa collaris . . . • • • • •
W h it e - collared F ly catcher.
This species, which has once been killed in England, is a native of Eastern Europe.