222 EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



ground-colour, spotted and speckled with olive-brown and with 

 numerous underlying markings of violet-grey ; the second is pale 

 buff in ground-colour, spotted and blotched with pale olive-brown 

 and with underlying spots of pale brown and violet-grey ; the 

 third is almost pure white or creamy-white in ground-colour, 

 finely speckled and spotted with rich reddish-brown, and with 

 larger underlying spots of violet-grey ; the fourth has a salmon- 

 coloured ground, spotted and blotched with brownish-red of 

 different shades, with violet-grey underlying spots and sometimes 

 a few hair-like lines of deep brown. The character of the mark- 

 ings also varies considerably. Some eggs are uniformly spotted 

 over the entire surface ; more frequently the markings take the 

 form of a zone, and sometimes are so thickly massed on the large 

 end of the egg as to entirely conceal the ground-colour. In some 

 eggs the markings are finely powdered on the shell ; in others 

 they take the form of bold spots and blotches ; and in all eggs 

 the underlying spots are both numerous and well defined. The 

 eggs vary in length from 0'95 to 0"8 inch, and in breadth from 

 0'7 to 062 inch. It is very difficult to distinguish between the 

 eggs of the present species and those of the Woodchat Shrike. 

 The latter bird's are, however, on an average, larger, not so 

 bright, and usually more boldly marked. 



THE WOODCHAT SHRIKE. 

 (Lcuiius rufus.)* 



Plate 54, Figs. 14, 15. 



The Woodchat Shrike is an accidental visitor to England, 

 chiefly during the seasons of migration. Upon the Continent the 

 Woodchat Shrike breeds in the basin of the Mediterranean, 

 its northern range extending into Southern France, Holland, 

 Germany (as far north and east as Pomerania), and Austria. 

 Eastwards it is found as far as Western Persia, its range extend- 

 ing northwards into the Caucasus. 



The nest of the Woodchat Shrike is a very handsome structure, 

 though loosely put together. It is usually placed in the fork of a 

 small tree, sometimes in the branches of an olive-tree, sometimes 

 in an evergreen oak, a cork-tree, or a tamarisk. 



* Lanius pomeranus — Saunders, Manual, p. 145; Sharpe, Handb., I., p. 171. 



