ENNEOCTONUS COLLURIO.
Butcher Bird.

Lanius Collurio, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 136.

> GUGHOSIB,, KOGII, A\Yoy HOD, Wo te, &.

——— spinitorques, Bechst. Naturg. Deutsch., vol. ii. p. 1335.
Enneoctonus Collurio, Boie, Isis, 1826, p. 973.

 

Nerrner Scotland nor Ireland can enumerate the Butcher Bird in their avifaunas ; yet in England the
bird is so common during the months of summer, that it may be found all over our southern and western
counties, from Cornwall to Yorkshire, wherever localities suited to its habits occur. In the last-mentioned
county, and the adjoming ones of Durham and Northumberland, it becomes more scarce ; and there is no
evidence of its ever having crossed the border. On the continent of Europe its range extends to Sweden

 

and Norway, in which latter country I myself saw it, in Christiania Fjord, in June 1856. In these com-
paratively northern climes, as in our own, and throughout all the countries of Central Europe to the borders
of the Mediterranean, it is merely a summer visitant. Examples from the Crimea, the furthest east from
which I have seen it, were sent to Dr. Carte of Dublin. Specimens collected in many parts of Africa prove
that it ranges widely over that continent. It certainly occurs in Nubia, as I have seen examples which had
been sent from thence ; and there are others in the British Museum which I believe are from Mozambique.
It is not usual for any of the northern passerine birds to cross the Equator; yet we are told by Dr. Smith that
it occurs still further south than the localities above mentioned, even to within the colony of the Cape.

It is not until the Hawthorn is in flower, and the grassy meadow bespangled with buttercups, that the
Butcher Bird, or Red-backed Shrike, as it is also called, makes its appearance in England; before the merry
month of May, therefore, it must not be looked for. ‘That some counties in England are more favourable
to it than others is certain. But even there particular localities must not be overlooked by the ornithologist,
if he wishes to see the bird in a state of nature: thick hedgerows, bordering the sides of lanes, and common
lands where cattle and horses are allowed by law to pasture are its favourite places of resort, as are also the
a sides of low coppices on light soils suitable to insect life: woodland districts are less congenial to its habits,

and it is seldom or ever seen in such situations. In its disposition it is tyrannical and cruel ; for it will be

waster of the hedgerow, let what bird may attempt to dispute its supremacy; and continual squabbles take

place between the aggrieved and the aggressor. At one moment the Butcher Bird may be seen driving

before it the weaker tenants of the hedge, while at another a Magpie or a Jay will call forth its ire, and
’ ‘SSS cause it, by scolding and other manifestations, to evince that the visit is an unpleasant one. On the
. other hand, at his first coming the small birds assemble and mob him for a time; at length, however,
some amicable arrangement appears to be entered into, after which they live at peace. It is necessary,
nevertheless, for those that are breeding to be vigilant and careful of their young; otherwise the Shrike
may resume its bad character, seize the nestling by the neck, fly to some covert or base, and tear it to
pieces with its powerful bill. This trait of killing young birds, as well as mice and shrews, is, however,
exceptional; for its staple food is doubtless insects of every kind and denomination, from the great
Stag-beetle to the Rose-chafer, Grasshopper, and Dragon Fly. But a few days since I saw a Shrike pounce
down upon a great Lob-worm at my feet, as large and as long as the quill with which I am writing, and
carry it away, dangling on each side of his body, to the branch of a tree, when his further operations
became lost to view; perhaps the bird descended with it again to the ground, or tore it to pieces and
placed it on some thorn in the neighbouring bush. This singular habit of impaling the food is common,
I believe, to all the members of the genus, nay to the whole family of the Shrikes; for I have seen
the same thing done by a species of an aberrant form, the Cracticus destructor of Australia. If this be
doubted by any one, and they should be desirous of witnessing this feat of the Australian bird, they have
only to drive a sharp-pointed nail through the cage in which it is confined, when it will soon be seen to stick
its meat, or any other kind of food, thereon. If there be a thorn at the end of a hedge, or a small bush
out in a fieldin the neighbourhood of the situation where the Red-backed Shrike has taken up his quarters, the
thorny branches may frequently be seen studded with various objects—perhaps the head of a little bird, the
mangled remains of a Shrew, a frog’s leg, snails, beetles, and other insects, particularly humble-bees. Such
an exhibition, however, is not always to be met with ; still, now and then it may be; I have seen it myself
more than once, and J am sure that most country-people have also. The end and object of this Shrike’s
larder I am unable to say: the thorns are often too weak to be of any assistance to the bird in tearing the
parts asunder ; besides which, it is only the useless and rejected portions that are so treated and made a