THE SHRIKES. l6l 



ear-coverts dusky-blackish; their penultimate tail-feather with a 

 good deal of black on the inner web, the outermost one being 

 entirely white, as in the adults. 



Note. — In addition to the black forehead of the adult, this species may 

 always be recognised, at any age, by the very short first primary, which is 

 less than one-third of the second primary. In adult birds, too, there is 

 always a beautiful rosy blush on the breast. 



Range in Great Britain. — A rare visitor in autumn and spring, 

 having been captured four times, viz. : in November, 1851, in 

 the Scilly Isles ; near Great Yarmouth in the spring of 1869, 

 and again in the spring of 1875 ; an d m September, 1876, near 

 Plymouth. 



Range outside the British Islands. — A summer visitor to most 

 parts of Europe, but not reaching Scandinavia regularly, though 

 it is occasionally found in Holland, Belgium, Denmark, and 

 South Sweden. Eastwards it is found as far as Persia, Turkes- 

 tan, and South-western Siberia. It winters in Africa, extend- 

 ing down the Nile Valley, and doubtless passing through the 

 Lake Regions till it comes to the Lower Congo, Damara Land, 

 and the Transvaal. 



Habits. — Mr. Seebohm writes : In both Greece and Asia 

 Minor I occasionally met with this bird ; but it was nowhere 

 so common as either the Woodchat or the Red-backed Shrike; 

 nor did it, like the latter bird, ascend into the pine-regions. It 

 seemed also to be very rare in the forests of olives which fill 

 many of the plains. The ground it preferred was the outskirts 

 of cultivation, where trees and bushes of various kinds — small 

 oaks, hollies, oleanders, pomegranates, white and pink roses, 

 and abundance of clematis — struggle for existence amongst 

 the broken rocks. Here and there a little patch is cultivated 

 with wheat, tobacco, or Indian corn, with a tree or two in the 

 middle (olive, almond, or walnut) ; and abundance of cleared 

 places grown over with rank vegetation attest the former 

 presence of a dying-out civilisation. In these places the 

 Lesser Grey Shrike was to be seen, occasionally perched 

 conspicuously on the top of a bush. It also frequented the 

 gardens near the villages, and is said to regale itself on the 

 cherries, figs, and mulberries which grow in the hedges that 

 divide them from each other. Its principal food is un- 



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