Bill short, or of moderate length, stout, broader than high at the
base, compressed toward the end; the gape-line slightly arched, the
ridge narrow, the notch and dentiform process large, the tip narrow
and decurved. Head large, roundish, ovate; neck short; body compact.
Legs of moderate length; tarsus compressed, with seven anterior
scutella; toes moderate, compressed; hind toe rather stout, lateral
about equal, the outer adherent at the base. Claws arched, compressed,
acute. Plumage soft and blended. Bristles rather strong. Wings and
tail various. Roof of upper mandible narrow, with a median ridge;
tongue slender, concave above, horny toward the end, with the
margins lacerated, and the tip slit; œsophagus wide, uniform;
proventriculus elliptical; stomach broadly elliptical or roundish; its
muscular coat thin, the epithelium dense and longitudinally rugous;
intestine of moderate length; cœca very small; cloaca oblong or
globular. Trachea simple; four pairs of inferior laryngeal muscles.
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.