50 Bii'tisli Birds. 



This is the common Butcher-bird of our islands, visiting 



THE RED-BACKED i i ■ i ,■ ,u . . r 



us resjularlv in suminer, and nestmjr over the jjreater part oi 

 SHRIKE. „ , or 



, . ,,1 En.trland, but beconiinsj rarer to\\'ards the north, and not 



[Lamus iolhtno.) ^ ' 



breeding in Scotland ; it has only once been recorded from 

 Ireland. It is generallv distributed over Europe as far east as Central Asia, and it 

 winters along the Persian Gulf and in East and South ^Vfrica. 



Although a much smaller bird than the three Grey Shrikes, the present species 

 has much the same habits as its larger relatives, and impales insects and mice and 

 small birds on the thorns which constitute its store-house. It is fond of frequenting 

 dells and over-grown gravel pits, or commons where there are plenty of scattered 

 clumps of bushes, and it mav often be seen on the telegraph-wires, swooping down 

 from this perch on the msects which tly below. The nest is an untidy structure of 

 moss and roots, lined with grass and hair. The eggs are from four to six in number, 

 of two kinds, a reddish and a white t\pe, with rufous spots in the one and olive or 

 greenish-brown spots in the latter. 



The Red-backed Shrike is distinguished b\" its blue-grev head and chestnut back, 

 and pinkish under-surface. The female is duller in colour and is reddish-brown with 

 a brown head, while there are crescentic bars of brown on the sides of the bod}' and 

 breast. 



This Shrike is of about the same size as the preceding 

 int. ^^u._JL..o.ll. gpe^ij-g^ \y^[ jg gasilv to be told bv its coloration, the back being 

 {Laiiiiis puiiu-rninis.) , , , .,,.',,, ' , , , , , , 



black, with white shoulders and rump, the head and neck 



chestnut, with a bri_)ad frontal band of black, and the sides of the face also black. The 

 Woodchat is a common summer \isitor to the greater part of Europe, but has only 

 occurred a few times in England, though it has been said to nest in the Isle of Wight. 

 The eastern range ui the species e.xtends to the Caucasus and Western Persia, and it 

 winters in North-eastern Africa and Senegambia. Like other .Shrikes, the Woodchat 

 takes up its perch in some conspicuous position on a bush or tree, from which it 

 sallies forth after its insect prey, and its white breast renders it easily seen. It has 

 a gentle and not unmusical song. The nest is more carefully built than is usually 

 the case with Butcher-birds, and is placed in the fork of a tree, without any attempt 

 to conceal it, bevond the fact that the materials of which it is composed resemble 

 the bark of the tree m which it is placed. The eggs are irom four to si.\ in number, 

 and are subject to the same variation as the eggs of the Red-backed Shrike. 



Of these birds, easily distinguishable by the curious 



THE WAX-WTNGS. tips to the secondary quills, which look like little tags of 



Family sealing-wax dropped on the ends of the feathers, there are 



AMPELIDM. three species found in the Northern parts of the Old and 



New Worlds. In the latter the commonest species is 



the Cedar-bird (Aiiipelis ccdi-umm), but the European Wax-wing also occurs in 



Arctic North America. 



