114 A BOOK OF BIRDS 



houses. Unfortunately, however, after all their labour, the poor 

 birds are frequently dispossessed by the impudent Sparrow, a bird 

 which always has been, and still is, a pest. 



The Sand-martin (Plate XXI. fig. 5) is the smallest of our 

 Swallows, wearing a modest livery, brown above and white below. 

 Unlike the Swallow and Martin, it nests in holes in sandbanks, labori- 

 ously tunnelling long chambers which terminate in a spacious nursery. 

 And all this is done with the feeblest of beaks and feet ! 



PAMILY MUSICAPID^ (Flycatchers) 



The Flycatchers are the nearest relatives of the Swallows, and 

 two species are regularly met with in Great Britain — the Pied and 

 Spotted Flycatchers. 



The Spotted Flycatcher (Plate XXV. fig. 9) is a quite common 

 bird during the summer. Unobtrusive in appearance, he is yet a 

 most interesting bird to watch, for it is his custom to obtain the insects 

 which form his food by sudden sallies in the air from the spray 

 which is chosen as a look-out. The capture made, he returns again, 

 and in a moment is off on another chase, and so on, while daylight 

 lasts. 



FAMILY LANIID^ (Shrikes) 



The Flycatchers are a feeble, harmless folk ; but some near 

 relatives of theirs have developed much more formidable and forbidding 

 natures. These are the Shrikes, or ** Butcher-birds." Larger in size 

 than the Flycatchers, they are to be distinguished by the almost 

 hawk-like beak, which has been developed for a similar purpose — 

 tearing up living prey, such as small birds, mice, and so on. 



Two species of Shrike are to be met with in Great Britain. 



The Red-backed Shrike (Plate XXV. fig. i) and the Great 

 Grey Shrike (Plate XXV. fig. 2). The first named breeds in these 

 islands, the second does not. 



These birds have a curious habit of impaling beetles and small 

 birds and mice on the thorns of the hawthorn, apparently for future 

 use. And it is on this account they have received the name " Butcher- 

 birds," and the equivalent thereof, ''Flesher." 



