VOL. X.] NOTES ON KED-BACKED SHRIKE. 177 



of her time brooding and only goes off for a short spell 

 now and then. The cock, when the hen is on the nest, 

 hands the food over to her and she pauses, sometimes for 

 as much as a minute, with it in her bill to decide whether 

 it shall be for her or the young. Both birds swallow the 

 dung of the young at first, but later on it is more often 

 carried away and dropped, than eaten. 



BED-BACKED SHRIKE : THE COCK IMMEDIATELY AFTER ALIGHTING 



WITH FOOD. 

 {Photographed by J. H. Owen.) 



The hen has a curious habit, while brooding the young, 

 of suddenly leaving the nest for an interval of any length 

 up to quite a quarter of an hour. Sometimes these 

 departures are, I think, to meet the cock for food and 

 sometimes she hunts herself. After a short absence she 

 usually returns without food and broods ; after a long 

 absence she usually goes away again immediately, and 

 very often she and the cock will bring food very rapidly 

 for the next few minutes. When she comes back to 

 brood she usually gives a single " cheep " near the nest 



