282 ENNEOCTONUS COLLURIO 
Europe and western Asia, from spring to autumn, ranging from 
the Pyrenees to Transcaspia and north Persia. Mr. Dresser, 
in his “ Birds of Europe,” writes: “The Red-backed Shrike 
arrives in Europe in April or early in May, remains to breed, 
and leaves again in August for a more genial climate”; and 
with regard to the breeding: “The nest of the Red-backed 
Shrike is large for the size of the bird, and is composed of 
straw, moss and dry bents, carefully lined with wool, fine moss 
and horsehair. It is generally placed in a large bush, seldom 
above four or five feet from the ground. The eggs, from five 
to six in number, are subject to considerable variation in 
colour and markings. They are of a pale bluish or salmon 
colour with spots of brown, red and grey, mostly congregated 
in a zone near the thick end.” 
This Shrike is a common bird throughout South Africa 
from November to March to as far north as Benguella on the 
west coast, but apparently never occurs in the West African 
Subregion to the north of the Quanza, which river often forms 
‘the barrier between South and West African species. In 
Benguella, according to Anchieta, it is known to the natives 
at Biballa as the “ Kitiati,” and by those of the Humbe 
district as the “ Kissanda-suala”’ (Leaf-scatterer). Andersson 
informs us that it is pretty common in the Okavango region, 
Damara and Great Namaqualand, where, he believed, it breeds- 
One of his specimens, the type of L. anderssoni, is in the 
Cambridge Museum. Layard writes: “ Levaillant states that 
this well-known European species inhabits the country about 
the Sunday and Zwartkops River (Port Elizabeth), Little and 
Great Namaqualand and other places, but is not found near 
Cape Town. We ourselves met with it about Graham’s Town 
and Blinkwater, Alice, Elands Post and Katberg; young birds 
were common in the months of March and April.” 
Stark and Sclater, in their work on the birds of South 
