Page:The Common Birds of Bombay.djvu/87

Rh a tooth, or notch, near the point of the upper mandible. The division is a natural one on the whole, or would be if we could get rid of certain awkward birds which do not fit well into either section; the crows, for example, which eat everything and have bills neither very stout nor thin. Jerdon takes the Dentirostres first, and divides them into a number of families, the Shrikes, Thrushes, Fly-catchers, and so on. These appear to form a natural flight of steps which has only been spoiled by recent attempts to improve it.

The Shrike stands at the head, as it should. They say that its palate is ægithognathous and its deep plantar tendons are passerine, and, if this is true, the fact must be respected; but I cannot help feeling that it is a pity, for, if the Shrike only had a desmognathous palate and a different set of tendons, it would be a miniature hawk, which is manifestly what Nature meant it for. Its strong, hooked and toothed bill, and its sharp talons are, in proportion to its size, as powerful weapons as those of a Harrier or Buzzard, and it is a bolder and fiercer marauder than either of those. Its manner of life is the same as that of a Buzzard. It sits upright on the top of a bush, or low tree, commanding a good expanse of open, grassy land, and watches for anything which it may be able to surprise and murder, a large grass-hopper, a small lizard, or a creeping field mouse. Sometimes it sees a possible chance in a flock of little birds absorbed in searching for grass seeds. Then it slips from its watch tower and, gliding softly down, pops into the midst of them without warning, and, forgetting all about the true nature of its deep