188 On the Occurrence of some of the Barer Species of Birds 



asking him if he should know the bird again if he saw it, King 

 replied he " should know it from a hundred different kinds of birds/' 

 and on taking him to his collection he at once pointed out the Grey 

 Shrike as being the bird he had shot, and the nest of which he had 

 taken. I have King's letters still by me, and should be glad to 

 show them to anyone who took an interest in the matter. 



Lanius Collurio. "The Red Backed Shrike." This species, un- 

 like the former one, is by no means uncommon in Wilts, and being 

 one of our summer migrants, and the cock bird being dressed in an 

 exceedingly striking garb, it is seldom passed by without notice. 

 It is by no means so powerful a bird as the last-named species, and 

 confines its attentions chiefly to the larger insects, such as bumble 

 bees, dragon flies, and beetles, but it also attacks small birds oc- 

 casionally, I believe, as well as frogs and mice. One of the keepers 

 at Clarendon told me he regarded it in no friendly spirit, and killed 

 every one he came across, as he assured me, when the young 

 Pheasants were newly hatched and just able to run outside the coops, 

 they would dart down upon them and despatch them with one blow 

 of their strong notched bill. I have noticed insects impaled by 

 these birds on the hedge between this and Salisbury, but have never 

 seen young birds or reptiles served in this manner. I should think 

 there is scarcely a parish for some little distance round Salisbury 

 that does not poseess its pair of Red-Backed Shrikes. This summer 

 a pair frequented the neighbourhood of our churchyard, and hatched 

 their young in safety. Mr. Norwood told me a striking instance, 

 as exemplified in this species, of the quick way in which a widowed 

 mate will at once repair its loss. He killed three male Red- Backed 

 Shrikes at the same place, on three successive days, the female having 

 already laid her complement of eggs and begun incubation. The 

 hen bird he purposely left unmolested ; but wanting some specimens 

 of the cock bird, he killed these three in rotation, and although he 

 actually shot one or two of the birds off" the very bush where the 

 female was sitting, she did not forsake her nest or eggs. There is a 

 peculiarity said to attach to the hen bird of this species, which in 

 its usual garb differs considerably from its mate, viz., that in very 

 old specimens the female assumes more or less the attire of the male 



