154 S H K I K E -
Var.B. Caroline T.
Var. C. Louifiane 13.„
£?“ 38; Black.
39. Brafilian.
40. Yellow-bellied.
41. Cayenne..
Var. A. Spotted ditto..
42. White.,
N°'43- White-lhouldered,
44. Pied.
45. Spotted,.
46. Bulky..
47. Brown..
4«. Red.
1 49. Magpie.
T H E Shrike, or Butcher-bird, has the following character!
ftics :
The bill ftrait at the bale, with the end more or k & bent, ,andt
a notch near the tip of the upper mandible.
The bale not Furnilhed with aicere..
The tongue jagged at tfie end;
The outer toe connefted to the middle one, as' fir as the firft':
joint *.
From the variety of lentiments, in regard to the place which;
thefe birds Ihould hold, in the fyftem of ornithology, many
doubts have formerly arifen with-me about thembut while I.
fix in my own mind the place they are to occupy in this work, it.
is but juft that the reafons.for fo. doing jftrauld not be withheld*
from the reader.
Mr. Rely ^ ranks the Shrike- among hlsjhort-winged Hawks, but;
takes in only the three forts mentioned in the Br. 'Zoology j with a ;
fourth, which is moft likely a variety. M, de Bscfftm places them•
• Mr, Scopoli -adds, that the fegmeats of the ikins are feven in number; but
whether this will betfufBcient to determine particular genera thoroughly, will be
noted hereafter.
f Syn, avium, p. 1 Sv 9 after
5 H R I K E.
safer the Falcon tribe, on account of their ferocity *, but takes in
«only the birds recorded by Ray, with.fuch foreign fpecies as are
.analogous thereto f . M. Briffbn, on the contrary, puts them at
;the head of his fifth order, along with the Thrujbes and Chatterers ±
’both of them truly 'belonging to the PaJJirine order of moft
fyftematifts.
I Sir C. Limueus, in refpeft to this matter, has held at. different
times more opinions ;than one. -In his Fauna Suec. o f 174b, he
makes it a Chatterer ( Pafferine) ; and in his 1 aft edition of this book,
’he brings back th^Chatterer to his Panins, then firft formed into a
-genus, and placed in the Accipitrine -order, taking in two fpecies of
'Titmice £. In both the tenth and twelfth editions of the Syfiema
SNaturee, this Author has added confiderably to this genus ; in the
-firlt, returning the Titmice -to their proper place-5 and in the laft,
•throwing the Chatterers into a feparate genus, and this with theut-
.moft propriety : but, notwithftanding he has ranked the Lanin's
genus among the Accipitres, it is not without a particular note ijl,
.confeffing his fentiments to be wavering; and it is moft likely,
*hat had he-lived to utter another edition, we fhould have feen
* I f ferocioufnefs alone ferve as a character, why not bring in ‘the Tyrant of
America, ranked by him among the Flycatchers ? a bird infinitely more audacious
-than any of the Shrikes, giving law to the Eagle himfelf; and on this account, as
well as the conformity of bill, &c. ranked by Linnmus moftjulUy with the Lanius
Sgenus.
f Yet he fays that the Pie-grièche and Pie ought to be ranked -together. “ Je
penfe que tous deux pourroient n’en faire qu'un, les Pies convenant en beaucoup
de chofes avec les Pie-grièches.” Hiji.des Oif. i. p. 309.
t The Long-tailed Titmou/e and the Manakin,
Jj <c Lanii accédant Actifitribus laniena, Picis moribus, Ptiffèribvs ilatura,
adeoque inter hos medii.” Syfl. Nat, ed, iz. p. 134, note at-bottom.
X 2 thefe