52 A THORN-TREE NEST. 



directly to the nest, alighted on the edge, leaned 

 over and gave one poke downward, while low 

 yearning or pleading cries reached my ears. 

 Without lingering an instant he flew to a perch 

 a foot above, stood there half a minute, and then 

 went to the ground. Not more than thirty sec- 

 onds elapsed before he returned to his mate, the 

 cries greeted him, the mouthful was adminis- 

 tered, and he took his leave in exactly the same 

 way as before. He was a personage of methodi- 

 cal habits. This little performance of seeking 

 food on the ground and carrying it to his part- 

 ner on the nest was repeated five or six times 

 in close succession, and then he rose higher than 

 his tree and took flight for a distant hill, look- 

 ing, as he flew, like a fluttering bit of black-and- 

 white patchwork. On further acquaintance, I 

 found this to be the regular habit of the bird : 

 to come to his nest and feed his mate thor- 

 oughly, and then to take himself away for about 

 half an hour, though later he fell to lingering 

 and watching me. 



Left thus alone and well fed, madam was 

 quiet for some time, perhaps ten minutes, and 

 then she went out for exercise or for lunch ; 

 flying directly to the ground near the tree, and 

 returning in a few minutes to her place. 



On one occasion I saw what sort of food the 

 shrike collected. He had alighted on the wire 



