The members of this genus, which are universally dispersed over Australia, prey upon small quadrupeds, birds, lizards and insects, which they frequently impale after the manner of the ordinary Shrikes. Their nidification resembles that of the species belonging to the genera _Strepera_ and _Gymnorhina_, the nest being a large round structure placed among the branches of the trees, and the eggs four in number. So great a similarity exists between the birds inhabiting New South Wales, Van Diemen’s Land, and Swan River, that I have thought it unnecessary to figure the whole, but the annexed descriptions, with a due attention to the localities, will obviate all difficulty in determining the species.
91. Cracticus nigrogularis, _Gould_ Vol. II. Pl. 49.
_Lanius robustus_, Lath. Gen. Hist. vol. ii. p. 67?
92. Cracticus picatus, _Gould_ Vol. II. Pl. 50. 93. Cracticus argenteus, _Gould_ Vol. II. Pl 51. 94. Cracticus destructor Vol. II. Pl. 52.
_Lanius curvirostris_, Lath. Gen. Hist. vol. ii. p. 52.
_Lanius torquatus_, Lath. Gen. Hist. vol. ii. p. 70.
_Vanga cinerea_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part IV. p. 143.
Inhabits Van Diemen’s Land, and may be distinguished from _C. destructor_ by its much longer bill, and, when fully adult, by its grey back.
Inhabits Western Australia; is of the same size as _C. destructor_, but has the white mark on the wings much larger and more clearly defined.
Only one species of this genus is at present known. It is peculiar to Australia, over every portion of which country it is dispersed; and it may be considered one of the anomalies of the Australian ornithology, since its alliance to any group of birds with which we are acquainted is very remote.
The woods of every part of the Old World from India to Australia are tenanted by species of this genus, which, from their great size, their being strictly insectivorous, and individually very numerous, must tend to keep insect life in check, and consequently perform a most important part in the economy of nature.
In my description of _Graucalus melanops_, I have stated that New South Wales, Van Diemen’s Land, Swan River and Port Essington, are each inhabited by _Grauculi_ so nearly allied to each other that it was questionable whether they were not one and the same species, and that the slight differences they present were attributable to some peculiarity in the districts they inhabit; after much attention to the subject, I have been induced to regard the Van Diemen’s Land bird as distinct, and I have therefore assigned it a name, _parvirostris_; those of the other countries appear to be local varieties or races peculiar to their respective habitats.