164 Lloyd's natural history. 



Z. Itucoptcrus, on the Volga. Professor Collctt has also 

 recorded the hybridising of Z. txcubitor and Z. sibiricus in 



Norway. 



Habits. — As the Great Grey Shrike only visits England in the 

 winter, there is no opportunity of observing its nesting habits 

 in this country, and although a belief exists that in Willoughby's 

 time, towards the end of the seventeenth century, a Butcher- 

 bird, which may have been the present species, was to be 

 found in the mountainous parts of England, as for instance, 

 in the Peak of Derbyshire, there has never been any 

 authentic record of the breeding of the species in Great 

 Britain. In the parts of Europe where the Great Grey 

 Shrike nests, it is a very conspicuous object, generally select- 

 ing a perch in the open, from whence it can keep a good 

 look out and perceive danger from a distance. So wary is it 

 that in Germany it is called the "Sentinel," and at Valkens- 

 vaard, in Holland, the bird's prodigious power of sight is made 

 use of by the falconers when they are trapping Hawks on 

 passage. Long before the eye of a man can detect the 

 approach of a Falcon, the latter is detected by the Shrike, 

 but it is even then some little time before the appearance of 

 a speck on the far horizon shows the accuracy of the Shrike's 

 vision, and enables the fowler to bj ready with his nets and 

 his lure for the approaching bird. In many respects the 

 Shrike resembles a bird of prey, and it is even said to hover 

 in the air like a Kestrel, or to fly down a small bird, like a 

 Merlin. It has its so-called " larder," like other Butcher- 

 birds, and Mr. Seebohm says that it has probably a dozen 

 "larders" in various parts of the district haunted by it. 

 He writes: "Like many birds of prey, he has his favourite 

 g-place, some convenient spot in a hedgerow, probably 

 chosen because the footing is good, and the thorns sharp ; 

 and to this place he brings his prey during the day, and there 

 an accumulation of the remains of his meals are discovered. 

 I • .ember finding one of these so-called 'larders' in a 

 on a roadside a few miles from Valkensvaard, close 

 to a gate. The thorns were very long and sharp, and there 

 were the dried-up remains of half-a-dozen mice which had 

 evidently been eaten except the feet, tail, and part of the skin. 



