CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 3O9 



feet from the ground, in a thick thorn bush or strong 

 hedge, and is made of stalks of pliuits, moss, and 

 roots, with a lining of bents, wool, and hair. The 

 eggs — four to six, vary considerably, some having 

 a ground-colour of a greenish-white, others of a 

 yellowish-clay, and some of a salmon tint, they are 

 spotted and zoned with brown, olive, or lilac, or 

 blotched with two shades of light red and violet- 

 grey. Only one brood is brought up. This Shrike 

 feeds on mice, lizards, beetles, bumble bees, wasps, 

 and other insects ; it impales its prey on thorns, 

 whence its trivial name of Flusher, which is another 

 form of Flesher, that is Butcher." In Winter the 

 Red- Backed Shrike g-oes as far south as Natal and 

 Cape Colony. 



The Spotted Flycatcher. 

 Case 24 is exclusively devoted to this species. 



CASE 66. 



THE CUCKOO. 



Order^ Picai'ice. Family^ Cuculidce. 



Familiar to all of us, generally arriving on our 

 coasts about the second or third week in April, and 

 soon making itself known by its call-note of 

 " Cuck-00," which seems to be divided into two 

 distinct syllables, owing to the slight pause made 

 between the first and second note. 



