364 Remarkable Individual 



turalist shall penetrate into those distant regions of the north, 

 where this pretty bird, in company with myriads of other wild 

 fowl, is supposed to pass the summer months in undisturbed 

 security. — Walton Hall, Yorkshire, April 22. 1835. 



Art. II. A Notice of a very remarkable Individual of the Common 

 Shrike (Lanius Collurio Lin.), with some Observations on this 

 Species of Shrike. By Edward Bi/xth. 



The variable chilly spring of the present year (1835) has 

 been remarkable for the late appearance of most of our sum- 

 mer migrants : here and there, in the more frequented locali- 

 ties, the voice of a solitary individual was heard about the 

 usual time ; but the great mass of most of the species did not 

 arrive until at least ten days or a fortnight after the usual 

 period of their first becoming plentiful. 



Of the Common, or Red-backed, Shrike (Ldtiius Collurio) se- 

 veral individuals did appear about the usual time (the second 

 week in May) ; but, in this neighbourhood, the species is by 

 no means so abundant this season as it was last summer. In 

 general, it is rather a common bird in this part of Surrey ; so 

 much so, that a dozen or more specimens might often be 

 obtained in the course of one morning's excursion. 



The first individual that came under my inspection this 

 season was a very remarkable bird : it was a female, partly in 

 the male plumage ; but the ovaries were perfect, and contained 

 eggs ; and it was in company with a partner of the other sex 

 at the time it was shot. [Mr. Hoy has made known, in IV. 

 344., a stronger case than this : the female was " in the full 

 garb of the adult male ; " yet contained " eggs much enlarged, 

 and one nearly ready for exclusion.] We find, therefore, 

 that barrenness is not [as Mr. Hoy has remarked in IV. 344.], 

 as we have hitherto had reason to suppose, the sole cause of 

 the assumption of the male plumage by a female bird. I have 

 reason to believe that this was a young individual ; that is to 

 say, a bird of the preceding year. The crown of its head and 

 nape are ash-coloured, as in the male ; throat and upper part 

 of the breast, like the male, pale blush, deeper as we descend; 

 ear-coverts much darker than in the female, but not black ; 

 back and wings like an ordinary female ; rump feathers more 

 inclining to ash-colour than in a common female ; tail fea- 

 thers intermediate, not so dark as in the male, but having the 

 basal part of the four outer ones on one side, and two outer 

 ones on the other, marked with white, though not so far down 



