1 6* LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY 



doubtedly beetles (which swarm to a incredible extent in these 

 climates), butterflies, grasshoppers, and other insects. The 

 flight of this Shrike, like that of its congeners, is undulatory, 

 but easy and comparatively noiseless; and it skims through the 

 air like a Partridge for a moment or two before it alights on 

 some perch, on to which it drops with a scuffle of the wings. 

 The song of the Lesser Grey Shrike is a not unmusical 

 chatter, something like the twitter of the Swallow or Starling, 

 but louder and mixed with some harsher notes. It has a 

 variety of notes, some very harsh, which are probably alarm 

 notes, and others somewhat plaintive, which may be call-notes. 

 This bird is said occasionally to impale insects on thorns, as 

 most of its congeners are in the habit of doing." 



Nest. — Like that of other Shrikes, composed of moss with 

 twigs and rootlets, and lined with wool, hair and a few feathers. 

 Mr. Seebohm describes one taken by himself in Greece as 

 follows : " With the exception of a twig or two, a piece of 

 flag-like rush, and a little wool at the foundation, the whole 

 nest is composed of a downy-leaved cudweed (Gnapkalium 

 dioicum), some in flower and some in seed, and most of them 

 pu'led up by the root." 



■Eggs. — From four to seven in number. The ground-colour 

 varies from greenish-white to pale greenish-blue. In both 

 these types of egg the markings are much the same, being 

 brown or greenish-brown, with the underlying markings of 

 Light purplish-grey very distinctly indicated. In nearly every 

 case the markings cluster more thickly round the larger end of 

 the egg, but sometimes the whole of the egg is spotted. Axis, 

 o-Q-ro inch ; diam., 07-075. 



II. THE GREAT GREY SHRIKE. LANIUS EXCUBITOR. 



Lanius excubitor, Linn., S. N., i., p. 135 (1766) ; Macg., Dr. B. f 

 iii., p. 492 (18 ;o); Dresser, B. Eur., iii., p. 375, pi. 145 

 (1871); Newt. cd. Varr., i., p. 199 ( 1S72) ; Seebohm, Br. 

 B., i., p. 598 (1883); B. O. U. List Br. B., p. 37 (1883); 

 Gadow, Cat. B. Brit. Mus., viii., p. 237 (1883); Lilford, 

 I il. Fig. Br. B., pt. viii. (188S); Saunders, Man., p. 139 

 (1889). 

 Adult Male. — General colour above blue-grey or French-grey; 



