PASSERES, ( 127 ) LANIID^. 



THE EED-BACKED SHRIKE. 



BUTCHER BIRD, MURDERING PIE, FRENCH MAGPIE, FLUSHER. 



Lanius coUurio. 



The Mayfly is torn by the Swallow, the Sparrow is speared by the Shrike, 

 And the whole little wood where I sit is a world of plunder and prey. 



Tennyson. 



This bird appears to have been very seldom observed in 

 Berwickshire, although it is a well-known and regular 

 summer visitor to various districts in England. 



The Eev. John Duns, Torphichen, in a communication 

 to the Koyal Society of Edinburgh, mentions the occurrence 

 of two specimens at Oxendean, near Duns Castle, in July 

 1859 ; ^ and Dr. TurnbuU relates that Lord Binning saw a 

 male on the farm of Byre walls, near Gordon, in the autumn 

 of 1865.2 



The Eed-Backed Shrike visits England about the end of 

 April or beginning of May, where it breeds. It leaves in 

 September for the south. 



Its food consists of mice, small birds, and various 

 insects. 



An interesting account of the habits of this bird is given 

 in The Field of the 28th of November 1885. The writer 

 says : — " Having had a Ked-Backed Butcher Bird for the last 

 two and a half months, I have had ample opportunity of 



1 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, vol. iv. 1861-62, No. 57, 

 p. 532. 



2 The Birds of East- Lothian, by W. P. Turnbull, 1867, p. 38. 



