LANIID^. 105 
the middle of October, great quantities being then seen 
about Gibraltar. They roost at tliat season about low rocks, 
especially at Gibraltar, In March they return to their 
breeding-haunts, some nesting in inaccessible places at the 
" back of the Rock." 
They commence about the 10th of March to build their 
nests, which resemble those of the House-Martin {Chelidon 
urbica) . Placed in the roofs of caverns, these nests are very 
difficult to reach ; and I did not succeed in examining the 
inside of one. The birds were sitting by the 30th of April. 
One locality for nests near Gibraltar, and the most accessible 
that I have seen, is a cave in a patch of rocks at the entrance 
of La Trocha, on the road from Algeciraz to Ojen, where it 
passes by the side of the ravine called la Garganta del Capitan. 
At the back of the Rock, at Gibraltar, is a cave almost 
under the Osprey's eyry, which can only be entered by 
landing from a boat in fair weather. This cave is very large 
and open, with sand at the bottom sloping upwards for a 
considerable distance at a sharp angle. 
The end of this cave, judging from the tracks of divers 
Genets or Striped Cats {Viverra), seems to be the regular 
dining-room of those animals ; for whenever I have visited 
the place, it was covered with the tail-feathers and pinions of 
numbers of Rock-Martins mingled with those of a good 
many Swifts, Rock-Doves, and a few Lesser Kestrels. 
Family LANiiDiE. 
127. LANiusMERiDiONALis,Temm. The Spanish Grey Shrike. 
Spanish. Alcaudon real. 
This Shrike is scarce in the neighbourhood of Gibraltar, 
the few specimens I have seen from there having occurred in 
autumn. Further north, though rather local, they become 
common in many places, being abundant and resident, 
breeding in the scrubby jungle near Seville. They nest, 
about the 15th of April, in bushes and low trees. The nest 
is large, the internal diameter measuring some five inches. 
When placed on a bough, the lower half is sometimes made 
of mud, the upper half being constructed with rough grass 
