Zoological Illustrations Series II/Plate 71



The true Shrikes, of which two, if not three species inhabit England, are bold and cruel birds: they attack others, scarcely smaller than themselves, and seize them like a Falcon, by their talons during flight. The Bush Shrikes on the other hand, are a more ignoble race; they only prowl after young or sickly birds, and seek their principal nourishment from those insects which shelter in foliage. These birds form two distinct groups, confined to the tropical latitudes of the Old and the New World. The first, Thamnophilus, is restricted to America, and the species are known by their dark coloured plumage. Malaconotus, is, we believe, purely an African group, while most of the typical species, like the present, are cloathed in bright and beautiful colours.

This elegant bird seems to be abundant in Western Africa, but is rare towards the Cape of Good Hope. Hence Le Vaillant had no opportunity of learning its peculiar manners. Its size is that of a Thrush; the feathers on the back are very long, and the first joint of the outer toe is free. Nature, ever prone to typify her relations, and to preserve harmony between groups, essentially distinct, has given to the bill of this bird, a form closely resembling that of Pitta; the genus by which Malaconotus is represented among the Thrushes.

A partial consideration of this group induced us, some years ago, to adopt the generic name of Laniarius; but in a more recent investigation of the species so denominated, we have failed to discover sufficient reason for separating them, generically, from Malaconotus.