80 BRITISH BIRDS. 



five yards from the nest. The " larder " consisted of a young, 

 almost fully-fledged, Blue Tit, two young Pheasants, which 

 had not been touched, and two more young Pheasants which 

 were half eaten, and the remains of several other young birds 

 which were too far gone to be identified, only a few feathers 

 remaining sticking to the thorns ; in every case the birds 

 were impaled by the thorns running through their throats. 

 Although I looked carefully I could not see any beetles, or 

 anything else but young birds. The birds were not grouped 

 together, but were scattered about nearly all round the tree. 

 On July 5th I visited the nest again, and found that in the 

 meantime the eggs had been taken ; on going to look at the 

 " larder," I found that all the young birds had disappeared, 

 with the exception of one of the young Pheasants, which had 

 been untouched at my first visit, and of which now only a 

 leg and a few feathers remained. I saw the keeper again 

 before I left, and he told me that he had seen the Shrikes 

 several times in the hawthorn tree since we first discovered the 

 "larder." N. Tracy. 



RED-BACKED SHRIKE IN NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE. 



On June 20th, when on an expedition with my friend 

 Mr. Masefield near Whiston (a village in North Staffs.), we 

 came across the nest of a Red-backed Shrike [Lanius collurio), 

 containing four young birds almost ready to leave the nest, 

 and also an addled egg. The nest was in a very exposed 

 position, characteristic of this species, and we had very little 

 difficulty in ringing and photographing the occupants. These 

 birds rarely visit the northern part of the county, and are 

 very irregular in their appearance in the more hilly districts, 

 so that this occurrence is quite worth noting. 



T. Smith. 

 [Formerly a pair bred annually about seven miles north- 

 north-east of Whiston, just across the Staffordshire boundary, 

 in the parish of Thorpe, but I regret to say that owing to 

 persecution the birds have abandoned the locality of late years. 

 A pair is also recorded as breeding near Cheadle in 1908 

 {N. Staffs. F. Club Eep., Vol. XLIV., p. 71).— F.C.R.J.] 



GREENFINCH SWALLOWING F^CES OF YOUNG. 



Whilst photographing a Greenfinch {Ligurinus chloris) feeding 

 young, I saw the hen deliberately swallow the fceces of the 

 young. 



There was no doubt about this, for on one occasion there 



