101 



these Shrikes that surprised me most was the early age at which 

 they began to sing. The females never attempted to sing, but the 

 males sang while clamouring to be fed by hand. Both males sang 

 pretty constantly, but their vocal powers diverged from one another. 

 No. I sang in a low sweet tone, while No. 2 sang decidedly louder, 

 but with less sweetness. Latterly, they acquired much of the song 

 ot a young Rock Thrush, which I kept in the same room. 



My friend, Mr. H. D. Astley, F.Z.S., also kept a Red-backed 

 Shrike last autumn, of which he remarks in a letter of September 

 17th, that "he sings in an undertone." 



On October 25th, my diary runs, "Mr. W. Duckworth has just 

 called. No. i was singing, so we paused in the hall, that Mr. 

 Duckworth might hear the song, unseen. Mr. Duckworth 

 remarked that he had no idea that the species could produce such 

 sweet notes." When we entered the room. No. i continued 

 singing, but No. 2 stopped his song to raise a cackle of indignation 

 at the stranger's approach. 



Besides the song proper, I noticed : — 



1. A squeaking cry for food. 



2. A lower note of complacence, on receiving a nice morsel. 



3. A loud chuckle of anger or surprise, which I called the 

 "war cry," always accompanied by a very rapid swaying of the 

 tail — a motion from side to side and at the same time perpen- 

 dicular. One evening a friend brought a small terrier into my 

 rooms ; No. i dozed peacefully, but Nos. 2 and 3 raised the war 

 cry, and sustained it at the top of their voices for more than 

 twenty successive minutes. 



And here it may be remarked that the female, when about to be 

 fed, not only squalled for the morsel, but expanded her wings 

 laterally to their full extent. 



On one occasion I had an excellent opportunity of noting the 

 courtship of the Red-backed Shrike. During the forenoon of 

 October 25th, the sunlight happened to stream into my rooms, 

 and fell on the Shrikes' cage. The Rock Thrush began to sing, 

 and so did Shrike No. 2. Twice did the Shrike sing most of the 



