SHRIKES AND DAWS. 93 
presented the treacle-brush to it, and was rather sur- 
prised to find that it took a large gulp of the mix- 
ture, and apparently enjoyed it immensely. Again I 
offered it the brush, and again it swallowed a large 
mouthful of the treacle, and this was succeeded by 
four or five more before the bird showed signs of 
having taken sufficient. 
The effect of the intoxicating mixture, however, 
was exceedingly rapid, for, when I put my prisoner 
upon the ground, he was quite unable to walk, or 
even to stand upright. In spite of all his efforts he 
could not succeed in keeping his balance even for a 
couple of seconds, turning over on his back as often 
as I placed him on his feet, and waving his legs help- 
lessly in the air. 
At last I propped him up in a forked branch and 
left him to recover from his excesses; and as he was 
not to be seen when I next visited the spot, I con- 
clude that his intoxication passed off as rapidly as it 
overcame him. 
Only one of these birds is really plentiful in Great 
Britain, and that is the Red-backed Shrike, or Lesser 
Butcher-bird, which in some parts of the country is 
known by the provincial titles of Flusher, Murdering 
Pie, and Jack Baker. Like so many others of our 
birds, it is only a summer visitor, reaching our shores 
about the middle of April, and taking its departure 
at the close of the summer. 
This shrike is not quite so bitter an enemy to 
mice, &c., as its larger but scarcer relative, the Great 
Grey Shrike, but, on the other hand, it slaughters so 
