154 WOODCHAT. 



on both sides of the Mediterranean is abundant. Even there, 

 however, it is only a visitor ; arriving about the end of March, 

 or early in April, and leaving again between August and October. 

 Eastward, it breeds in South Russia, Turkey, Asia Minor, Palestine 

 and Persia ; while in winter it occurs in Arabia, and down the East 

 African coast to about 5° N. lat., also on the west side in the 

 Canaries, and to the Gambia and the Gold Coast. Throughout 

 North Africa it is abundant in summer, arriving from the southern 

 side of the Sahara in March. 



The nest, composed of a variety of materials and frequently 

 adorned with the flowers of aromatic plants, is placed in the fork of 

 a branch of almost any tree, without the slightest attempt at con- 

 cealment. The eggs, usually 5 in number, are, as a rule, rather 

 larger than those of the Red-backed Shrike, though similar in colour ; 

 the exception being the red variety, which is comparatively rare : 

 average measurements '92 by '68 in. In its habits and food this 

 species resembles other Shrikes, though insects of various kinds, 

 especially grasshoppers and beetles, appear to form a larger propor- 

 tion of its diet ; it is also very fond of bathing. The note usually 

 heard is a harsh krah kack krah; but the male has also a low and 

 rather pretty song in spring, and shows great capacity for imitating 

 the notes of other birds. 



The adult male, represented in the lower figure, has an elongated 

 white spot above each nostril ; forehead, lores, ear-coverts, sides of 

 neck and back black; crown and nape chestnut-red; scapulars 

 conspicuously white ; wing-feathers blackish, with white bases to the 

 primaries, forming a single bar ; coverts and secondaries tipped with 

 buffish-white ; lower back grey ; tail-coverts nearly white above, 

 turning to grey below ; tail-feathers chiefly black, with white tips and 

 with white outer webs and bases to the exterior pair ; under parts 

 buffish-white, darker on the flanks. Length yi in. ; wing 3'8 in. 

 The female has all the colours less bright and the upper parts are 

 tinged with rufous and buff. The young bird (the upper figure in 

 the cut) is russet, streaked and mottled with darker brown and dull 

 white on the upper parts, and with wide rufous margins to the 

 quills ; under parts much barred with brownish ; bill yellowish-horn. 



ViREONiD.^. — Mr. Edwin Brown (Mosley's Nat, Hist, of Tut- 

 bury, p. 94 and p. 385, pi. 6) described and figured a male of the 

 American Red-eyed ' Flycatcher,' Vireo olivaceus, which a Derby 

 bird-catcher known as ' Hatter Dick ' asserted that he had captured, 

 with a female not preserved, at Chellaston in May 1859. [I] 



