62 Order I 



while its big nest of grass and moss is hardly less 

 conspicuous than the bird itself, in the solitary haw- 

 thorn bushes which it selects by preference. It may, 

 however, be placed in a thick hedge or shrub, or on 

 a low branch of a tree, while it is always lined with 

 wool and hair, and contains some five eggs varying in 

 tint from reddish to greenish white, with fine blotches 

 or spots of the corresponding colour, not uncommonly 

 collected into a zone. This Shrike is very wary, but 

 fairly bold in the breeding season, after which it is 

 little seen till its departure in August : it feeds on 

 small mammals and birds, beetles, bees, and other large 

 insects, and occasionally keeps a small stock impaled 

 on thorns near the nest. These " larders," however, 

 are not so common as has been supposed. For short 

 distances the flight is strong, while the bird has a harsh 

 and somewhat Chat-like note, as well as a slight song. 

 The foreign range extends over northern Europe and 

 Asia to Transcaspia and north Persia, and over southern 

 Europe except the Iberian Peninsula. The male is 

 chestnut-brown above with grey head, black and white 

 tail, and black face, and pinkish buff below ; the female 

 is red-brown above, and whitish below with crescentic 

 markings recalling those of some hawks. 



The Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator), distinguished 

 by its chestnut head and white wing-bar, is a common 

 continental species which visits us at very irregular 

 intervals, but must be mentioned here as having 

 possibly bred twice in the Isle of Wight. It is there- 

 fore one of the birds for which a watch should be kept 

 in the south. 



Besides these we have two other members of the 

 family that occur in Britain, the Great Grey and the 



