The Red-backed Shrike 



THE Red-backed Shrike, or Butcher Bird, 

 as it is frequently called, on account of 

 its strange habit of spitting or hanging in 

 thorn bushes the bodies of beetles, mice, and 

 small birds upon which it preys. It is a 

 migrant, arriving in May ; it rears its brood 

 during June or July, and takes its departure 

 again in August and September. Some idea 

 may be gathered of the immense journey made 

 twice a year by this winged traveller, when it 

 is mentioned that the bird spends the winter 

 even as far south as the Cape of Good Hope. 

 Although nowhere very common, this 

 species breeds generally throughout England, 

 with the exception of the north and west, but 

 is rarely met with in Scotland or Ireland. It 

 loves old chalk pits with thorn and other 

 bushes growing in them, and sunny hillsides 

 where clumps of thorn and bramble grow, 

 but may frequently be met with nesting in 

 thick old hedgerows. 



:oi 



