show of. Many of the Tits,
a habit rather than to answe
the hiding-propensities of the Magpie; and the impaling by the
of Churt, tells me that the bird is sometimes destructive

practice would seem to be
occur in the habits of birds, such as

Mr. Smither,

odd traits

Shrike seems to be of the same nature.
to bees, and that, when it has taken up its
can befall them. I may here remark that all th
backed Shrike; for they occur in situations wh
is kind before the Shrike reaches this country.
fect and as lively as before they had met with this catastrophe ; for a
1 on the windy side of a hedge, and often low down

positively seen instances of th
humble-bees thus impaled, as per
I believe it to be, as I have always found then

catastrophe

near the shoots of grasses, where it was ne
siderable attention to this curious subject,
blown on to these sharp points by heavy gusts of wind.
with its legs uppermost, on the upright spine of a furze,

bird impaled in this way,
Various papers on the subject, both pro and con,

a branch of the tree under which the bush was situated.
‘ Zoologist.’

have appeared from time to time in the
be called a wary bird, since it may be nearly approached while it sits

The Red-backed Shrike can scarcely
on the topmost spray of the hedgerow, or the outermost sprig of a bush lower down. Flycatcher-like, it
nt situations to secure a wide field for observation : its bold black eye scans the surface

affects such promine
rable distance; and no sooner does it detect a passing insect than it at once sallies

of the mead for a conside
forth, either catching it on the wing,

and some other birds, carry
r any special purpose in the bird’s economy. Many

position in the n

e

  

about and hide portions of their food; and the

eighbourhood of their hives, no greater calamity

e insects seen spitted on thorns have not been so by the Red-
re it is impossible the bird could get; besides which, I have

I have frequently noticed large

ither likely nor possible for a bird to have been. I have paid con-

and can come to no other conclusion than that they bad been

Besides humble-bees, I have seen the common lady-

as if it had dropped from

or dropping after it among the grass, from which it immediately rises

and wings its way back to the twig from which it started. The male frequently sits bolt upright, moving his

tail up

and down, or swinging it from side to side ; and beautiful indeed does its delicate grey head and

vinous breast appear in contrast with the green leaves of its favourite hawthorn. The female appears to be

more shy and retiring 5
prominence to these birds, their noisy harsh grating cry would be sufficient. Their large nest is generally

placed, without
others near the

certainly she is not so frequently seen as her mate. Were anything wanting to give

any apparent artifice, on the outer branches of a bush, sometimes high up in the hedge, at

ground.

A nest taken from a whitethorn bush at West Drayton, on the 28th of May, 1858,

Ww may ’ . ste aye 1 ra] e > 2 = ‘
vas outwardly composed of the stems of creeping-plants, next to which was a thick wall of green moss, then

a layer of fine roots, and, lastly, a lining of long hairs. It was a large and compact structure, nearly eight

inches in diameter.
near the larger end, and a few spots of the
blown, the salmon-tint became much paler.

rhe eggs vary very considerably in their

'
The eggs were of < ic: . ae . :
ges were of a delicate salmon-colour, with a large zone of brown and grey spots

same hue sprinkled over the remainder of the shell: after being

general colour,

some being of the salmon-hue described above,

W hile others are of a yale ereenish stone ; b CaS ¢ 1 e 1 iS e or”
s v flit Ss oth are § te C . ] re S . 7 C ° i
S ] 3 c spott d alik W ith reddis h br own and g r y> forming a

zone near the larger end.

They are five or six i arly ani i i i i
yé e or six in number, nearly an inch in length by eight lines in breadth.

It will be seen that I have followed mode 1 Ss j 1 [
Z 7 Cc n d rn 8 UN C S 5 Cc y a ya =
ystematist in adopting the generic name of cnneoctonus for

these two birds. I have done so because I consider there are good grounds for their separation from the
genus a S: ° > differ ver 1 2 $ >
genus L ius fonmhes differ very considerably both in form and colour from the Grey Shrike, for which the
latter term is retained. ; :
Usually the sexes are very dissimi
sually dissimilar ; but Mr ‘i
eee y cS . Blyth and other writers have affirmed that the breeding
emale occasionally assumes the colouring of the male ?

male has a line at the base of the upper mandible, lores, and ear-coverts deep black; head and necl
grey, lightest on the crown ; back and wing-coverts bright chestnut-red ; upper gees a ; fe ae
dark brown, Barnowy fringed with a reddish hue; secondaries the same, but more ee ae er
rufous ; four middle tail-feathers black, very slightly fringed with white at the tip ; ere ae ee
J tip; three lateral feathers for

two-thirds of their length from the base white, with black shafts, the apical third
external feather white to the end, and all three frineed oA a Se
abdomen, and under tail-coverts white; breast, abd § s a
black; bill, feet, and legs black.
I notice that male examples from Italy are much more br
The female somewhat exceeds the male in size, has the he

into light-reddish brown ack i
g on the back and wing-coverts ; a

ae eek Bec : ‘
ings as in the male; tail brown, slightly fringed with grey at the ti hi
: : C © a) A ) 5 :
abdomen, vent, and under tail-coverts dull white ; breast a
ae = i
with a semilunar mark of brown '

 

Ne

ack, the outer web of the
at the tip; chin, lower part of the

) ‘ > fe s oO
omen, and flanks pale vinous rose-colour ; irides brownish

illiantly coloured than those killed in England.
ad and upper surface light brown, deepening
whitish line over the eye; ear-coverts brown ;

centre of the lower part of the
upper part of the abdomen, < anks li Ae
I at the top of every feather. oe nee
t may be thought by some that I have been a little inconsist
with the flowering May; but I find that they oc .

nt in figuring the Rose- and the Stag-beetles

casionally occur at the same time.

ES EN ry,