reared from the nest, they require much less attention, soon becoming contented with any kind of food.

Breeding. The large, irregular nest of these Shrikes is generally found in a tree, in a garden, or in the outskirts of a grove. It is made of roots, green leaves, and wool, lined with wool and feathers. The female lays five or six reddish eggs; in colour a greyish white, spotted about the middle with brown and violet grey. The male assists in the hatching, which lasts fifteen or sixteen days. The young birds grow so quickly, and are so soon fledged, that notwithstanding the late arrival and early departure of this bird, it yet breeds twice in a favourablo season. The young ones are fed with beetles and grasshoppers. Till the first moulting, they are entirely without the black stripe on the forehead; the upper part of the body is a dark ashen grey, marked hardly perceptibly with red; the under part white, tinged on the breast with yellow, and on the sides with red. They may be taken from the nest as soon as the tail begins to grow; and at first fed on ants' eggs, and afterwards with bread soaked in milk.

Mode of Taking.-They cannot be taken alive, except by putting limed twigs on the bush, or branch, on which they are observed to perch, when watching for insects. They are as incautious as they are afterwards docile, flying without hesitation into the snare.

Observations and Attractive Qualities.-The male is a bird of wonderful docility; the female, as is usually the case, does not sing. These Shrikes not only imitate, like others of their species, certain passages of other birds' song, but repeat the whole with the greatest exactness; and even seem to have little or no song of their own. For example, they repeat perfectly the song of the Nightingale, though wanting of course the round full tones; and that of the Lark. This power makes the Lesser Shrike a very desirable bird to the amateur. I have remarked that it seems to take especial delight in mimicking the call of the Quail. I possessed one which, however lively in its song, always stopped, in order to imitate the Quail's call, whenever it heard it; and the latter, before it became accustomed to the mimicry, would go furiously about the room, endeavouring to find its rival.

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6. THE WOODCHAT SHRIKE.

Lanius Erythrocephalus, Collurio rufus, et Pommeranus, LIN. Pie griesche rousse, Bur. Der Rothköpfige Würger, BECH.

The

Description. This bird is seven inches long, somewhat smaller, or at least more delicate than the last mentioned. The tail measures three inches and a half, a third of which is covered by the wings. The beak is eight lines long, has a distinct indentation, and is blueish black; the iris is yellowish blue; the feet one inch high, and as well as the toes blueish black. The forehead is black, and with it is connected a band of the same colour, running between the eyes, and behind the ears. back of the head and the neck, are a beautiful reddish brown ; the upper part of the back, brownish black; the middle, reddish ashen grey. The upper tail coverts are yellow and white. Some large white feathers on the shoulder, form, as in the Magpie, a great white spot on each side of the back. Above the nostrils the yellowish white, which is the prevailing colour of the underpart of the body, appears in two points. The sides are somewhat redder, and indistinctly mottled with grey; the smaller feathers of the wing coverts are blueish black, edged with yellowish white; the larger ones, and the quill feathers, black shot with brown. The quill feathers in front have white bases, which, when the wings are closed, form a white spot. The tail is black, passing over into brown; the outermost feathers white with a black spot in the middle, the rest white at the point, and the two in the centre, with the exception of the white bases, quite black. The female is exactly like the male, except that the colours, especially the reddish brown, are somewhat paler.

Habitat. When wild it is a bird of passage, making its appearance at the end of April, and departing in the middle of September. It frequents mountains, woods, and plains full of bushes and trees, and especially congregates where horses are kept day and night on restricted pastures. In confinement it is kept in a wire cage.

Food. In a wild state it feeds chiefly upon horse and dungbeetles, as well as on grasshoppers, breeze-flies, and other insects. In case of necessity it will attack young birds and lizards. When confined it must be treated as the preceding, but as it is even more delicate, it is better to rear it from the nest, than to tame it when old. It is fed from the first on raw meat.

Breeding.It builds its nest in the thick branches of Ligh trees, making it of the stalks of plants, moss, grass, swine's bristles, wool, and hair. The female lays, twice a year, six reddish white eggs, which are covered all over, and especially at the thick end, with distinct blood-red, and indistinct bluish grey spots. They are hatched in a fortnight. The nests are occasionally found in high sloe, maple, and other bushes. Till the first moulting, the young are on the upper part of the body of a dirty white, spotted with grey, on the lower part, dirty white and clouded with grey; the wing coverts are bordered with rust colour, the quill feathers and tail are a greyish black.

Mode of Taking.-A cruel way, though the easiest, as this is the least shy of all the Shrikes, is to take it in the nest with limed twigs. Like the preceding, it is fond of bathing; on which account, it may be caught by water-traps about noon, if laid in the neighbourhood of hedges. These Shrikes are often found drowned in large pools.

Attractive Qualities.-Although this Shrike appears to have almost as good a memory as the preceding, its song is not so pleasant, partly because its voice is not so agreeable, and partly because it introduces into the song which it imitates, some of its own harsh and discordant notes. It readily adopts the songs of the Nightingale, Linnet, Goldfinch, and Redstart. It is only in consideration of its beautiful plumage, that this Shrike can be deemed as desirable a bird for the cage as the foregoing.

THE LITTLE SHRIKE AND THE WOODCHAT SHRIKE. ADDITIONAL.-RENNIE states of the first of these individuals of the Lanidae family, that it is certainly not a native of Britain, and of the second, that it is doubtful. MUDIE, however, asserts "that the Woodchat Shrike is a British bird, although rare; it is an occasional summer visitant, and does sometimes breed here, the nest having been found more than once in the county of Norfolk." WHITE speaks of a dead specimen which was sent him, but does not say where it was found. MACGILLIVRAY says, "only a few instances of the occurrence of this species in England are recorded;" and YARRELL enumerates several specimens, killed, or seen in Kent, Norfolk, Suffolk, York, and Worcestershire. The latter naturalist also tells us that, " in size, in most of its habits, and in its mode of feeding, the Woodchat resembles the common Red-backed Shrike, and like that species, is said to imitate the voice of several different small birds;" and quotes the account of the bird given by Mr. J. D. HAY, in a communication

to the Magazine of Natural History, (vol. iv. p. 341), which is as follows: It differs from Lanius collurio, in the choice of situation for its nest, placing it invariably on trees, and preferring the oak. The nest is fixed in the fork of a projecting branch, and is composed on the outside of sticks and wool, mixed with white moss from the bodies of the trees, and lined with fine grass and wool. Eggs four or five in number, rather smaller than those of the Red-backed Shrike, and varying much in markings; the ground colour being pale blue in some, in others a dirty white, surrounded near the larger end with a zone of rust-coloured spots; in some again, the markings and spots are of a paler colour, and more dispersed over the egg. It is not a wild bird, often building close to houses and public roads. It is abundant in some parts of the Netherlands, and arrives and departs about the same time as Lanius collurio."

7. THE RED-BACKED SHRIKE.

Lanius Collurio, LIN. Lanius Spinitorquus, BECH. L'Ecorcheur, Bur. Der rothrückige Würger, BECH.

Description. This bird forms a link between the Pies and singing birds, having many peculiarities in common with the latter. It is a little more than six inches long. The tail, of which a third is covered by the folded wings, is three inches and a quarter in length. The beak is thick, black, almost straight, being slightly bent at the point, and six lines long; the iris is nut brown; the feet, ten lines high, are, as well as the toes, of a blueish black. In the male, the head, the nape of the neck, the upper tail coverts, and the thighs are ashen blue; above the eyes and on the forehead this colour is lighter. A broad black stripe runs from the nostrils between the eyes to the ears; the back and the wing coverts are a beautiful reddish brown; the throat, the rump, and the under-part of the body, white, tinged with red on the breast, belly, and sides. The pen feathers are blackish, the hinder ones having a wide border of reddish brown; the tail is somewhat wedge shaped, having the middle feathers black; the other feathers are white half way from the root downwards, and are besides tipped with white. The female is very unlike the male in appearance; all the upper part of the body is rusty brown, somewhat inclining to ashen grey, on the nape of the neck and the tail coverts, and on the back and wing coverts, very slightly watered with white. The forehead and the part above the

eyes are yellowish white; the cheeks are brown; the throat, belly, and vent feathers a dirty white; the neck, breast, and sides, are yellowish white, crossed by dark brown wavy lines. The pen and tail feathers are dark brown, the latter somewhat inclined to red; the two outermost pen feathers are edged with white, and the rest, with exception of the four in the centre, have white points.

Habitat. This is almost the latest bird of passage, arriving only at the beginning of May. Although it may be met with in the forest valleys where cattle pasture, it is more frequently found in the open country in hedges and bushes, especially in inclosures where horses and cows are kept. It migrates in August, even before the young birds have moulted, in large flocks. Like birds of the same species, this should be kept in a large cage by itself, as if allowed to associate with other birds it soon evinces its natural ferocity. Some years ago I caught one, which refused to eat for three days, although I offered him dead birds, beetles, and other insects. On the fourth day, when I thought he would be too weak to hurt other birds, and might, perhaps, if set at liberty, accustom himself to his food, I let him loose. No sooner was he free, than he seized and killed a Sparrow, before I could come to the rescue. I let him eat it, and put him back into the cage. From that time, as if his fury was satisfied, he ate all that was offered him.

Food. When wild, it destroys great numbers of beetles, maybugs, crickets, grasshoppers, and especially breeze flies, which last are the favourite food of all the Shrikes. These insects it impales on thorns till it has collected enough for a meal. During continuous rainy weather, when insects are not to be found, it catches and impales field-mice, lizards, and young birds. It is incorrectly asserted that it does this to attract other birds to the spot. In confinement, its food is the same as that of the preceding species. Insects may be given it, mixed with the Nightingale's paste, to which it soon becomes accustomed, and now and then a little raw or dressed meat.

Breeding. In a favourable season this bird breeds twice, choosing for its nest some thick bush, frequently the hawthorn. The nest is large, made of roots and coarse grass, mixed with layers of moss and wool, and lined with the finest root fibres. It lays five or six greenish white eggs, rather round in shape,