RED-BACKED SHRIKE. 97 



counties to Kent. In Norfolk and Lincolnshire it is 

 said to be decreasing, and anywhere north of Yorkshire 

 is decidedly rare and local. It has occasionally bred 

 in the south-east of Scotland, but is unknown as a 

 nesting species in Ireland. 



Breeding habits : The Red-backed Shrike is one 

 of the latest of our summer visitors to arrive. The 

 haunts of this species are farms where tall hedges are 

 numerous, common lands, covered with plenty of 

 thicket and brushwood, country lanes, orchards, and 

 large gardens. I am of opinion that this bird pairs for 

 life. It certainly migrates in pairs, and appears to 

 return with wonderful regularity to its old haunts, even 

 the same bushes being visited year by year. It seldom 

 wanders far from one locality from the time of its 

 arrival early in May, until the young are able to fly, 

 in July or August. The nest is built in a variety of 

 situations, generally with no attempt at concealment, 

 and very often by the side of the highway or near a 

 footpath. A favourite spot is in a tall hedge, or a thick 

 bush, less frequently in a thicket of briars and brambles. 

 One spot, visited yearly by a pair of these Shrikes, wa^ 

 a large clump of willows on the Great Western Railway" ' 

 embankment between Paignton and Torquay, and not a 

 dozen feet from the passing trains. It has now been cut 

 down, and the birds have gone elsewhere. The nest 

 is built at varying heights, on an average about six or 

 eight feet from the ground. It differs a good deal, not 

 only in the materials, but in the amount of care and 

 skill displayed in its construction. The usual type of 

 nest is made externally of round dry grass-stems, the 

 stalks of various plants, and a few roots ; internally, it 

 is composed of finer stems and roots, a few feathers 

 and flakes of moss and wool (round the rim), and 

 finally lined with hair. A less frequent type of nest 



