Genus I.--Lanius, Linn. Shrike, or Butcher-bird
The definitive website on wildbirds & nature
Birds of America
By John James Audubon, F. R. SS. L. & E.
VOLUME IV.
GENUS I.--LANIUS, Linn. SHRIKE, or BUTCHER-BIRD.
Bill of moderate length, strong, compressed; upper mandible with the dorsal
line a little arched, towards the end decurved, the sides convex, the edges
direct, with a large prominence succeeded by a deep notch, the tip decurved and
acute; lower mandible with the angle short and wide, the dorsal line convex, the
sides convex, the edges inflected, the tip ascending, acute. Nostrils basal,
lateral, oval, concealed by the bristly feathers. Head large, broadly ovate;
neck short; body robust. Tarsus rather short, compressed, slender, with eight
scutella; toes small, the first stout, the lateral nearly equal. Claws rather
large, arched, compressed, extremely acute. Plumage soft and blended. Bristles
stiff. Wings of ordinary length, first quill very short, fourth longest. Tail
long, graduated, or rounded.
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