TELEPHONUS ERYTHROPTERUS. 107 
of April, in 1869 on the 3rd of April, in 1870 on the 29th of 
March; the passage ceases about the 20th of April. The 
latest seen was on the 14th of October 1871 ; in 1869 I ob- 
served them returning south on the 26th of August. 
The Woodchat is one of the most abundant and conspicuous 
birds in spring on both sides of the Straits. Very tame and 
confiding, unlike their big cousins L. meridionalis and L. 
alfferietisis, their pied appearance and the bright chestnut- 
coloured head of the adult males cause them to be noticed 
even by the most unobservant. They are to be seen in every 
direction in woods and on plains, perched on tops of trees, 
bushes, aloes, and tall plants, making their larders on the 
spikes of the aloes, and impaling on the thorns beetles, bees, 
and all kinds of insects. They are very mischievous among 
bees. 
The nest, which usually contains eggs by the 10th of May, 
is a small edition of that of L. meridionalis, but is more 
covered outside with the greyish white flowers and stalks of 
the Scleranthus, and is usually placed low down in trees. The 
eggs, four or five in number, sometimes six, are subject to 
great variation, many resembling those of our English Butcher- 
bird, L. collurio. 
130. Telephonus ERYTHROPTERUS (Shaw). Hoodcd Shrike. 
Moorish. Abermat {Favier). 
" This Shrike is nearly as common as Lanius algeriensis near 
Tangier, and is resident, nesting in bushes twice a year — 
in May or June, and again in November. Their note, which 
is a kind of whistle, harmonious and well-sustained, and very 
like that of a Blackbird, is usually heard from the middle of 
some thick bush (where they have a habit of hiding themselves), 
as well as in the thickest part of trees. They lay about 
three eggs, of the same shape as those of other Shrikes, but 
white marked with lines and small spots of ash-brown and 
russet, mostly at the thick end. The sexes are alike in plu- 
mage, and undergo no change. ^^ — Favier. 
According to my limited experience, the Tchagra is rather 
scarce near Tangier, but more plentiful about a day's journev 
