DUBLIN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 57 



DUBLIN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 

 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1856. 

 His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin, Y. P., in the Chair. 

 The Minutes of the previous Meeting were read and signed. 

 His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin read a paper on — 



THE SONG OF THE BUTCHER-BIRD. 



It is not my intention to-night to enter into the natural history of the 

 entire family of butcher-birds, or shrikes (Laniadge). I merely wish to 

 bring under the notice of the members of the Society a few notes which 

 were made during the month of July last, at Cheltenham, with regard 

 to the song properly so-called of the lesser, or, more properly speaking, 

 the red-backed shrike, or butcher-bird (Lanius collurio) ; and, although 

 I know that it is a rule of this Society that the communications read 

 before it shall be confined to Irish natural history, yet, as a congener of 

 this bird (Lanius excubitor) has occurred already, on one occasion at least, 

 in Ireland, I hope I may be allowed to infringe on this rule a little. 



Although many authors mention the imitative faculties of the 

 butcher-birds, in respect to the cries of other birds, yet they all say that 

 this faculty is limited to the imitation of the cries and calls only. The 

 only naturalist who at all notices any other power of imitation is 

 Temminck, who, in his " History of Birds," enters fully into the sub- 

 ject. It is rather strange so remarkable a habit should have escaped 

 notice. 



The following were the notes which I made on the subject : — Last 

 July, when riding along one of the roads near Cheltenham, I was sur- 

 prised by hearing, as I thought, a blackcap ( Curruca atricapilla) singing 

 in a thicket, and, struck with the strangeness of the circumstance, at 

 that season, when all birds are supposed to be mute, I cautiously ap- 

 proached the bird to make sure of its species : much to my astonish- 

 ment I found that the musician was the lesser shrike (Z. collurio). On 

 listening awhile, to my still greater astonishment, I heard this bird, 

 dropping the song of the blackcap, take up a most perfect imitation of 

 the song of the sedge-warbler {Curruca phrag mites) ; then, successively, 

 the songs of the thrush (Tardus musicus), skylark (Alauda arvensis), 

 and whitethroat ( Curruca cinerea), winding all up with the call-note of 

 the partridge {Perdix cinerea). 



Nor was this the only occasion on which I was able to note this 

 curious trait in the bird's habits. On may subsequent occasions I 

 witnessed similar concerts, in every case being able to identify the bird, 

 thanks to its fearlessness, and thus verify my observation. The mere 

 fact of this bird's imitating the songs of its more favoured brothers of the 



VOL. IV. I 



