36 Mousley, Breeding of the Migrant Shrike. [j" n 



built in that fir in preference to the exposed and leafless apple trees 

 and bushes? 



At all events, this was the view I took of the matter at the time, 

 and I think that after events will show that perhaps I may not have 

 been so very far wrong. On the day following the taking of the 

 eggs, I left home as I thought for about a week, but owing to unfore- 

 seen circumstances it was not until June 29 that I was able to visit 

 the spot again, when on walking to the village of Hatley, and after 

 having just passed the tall fir on the roadside, I heard a great com- 

 motion in some bushes and young trees not far off, and there sure 

 enough were the five young Shrikes of the second brood, being fed 

 by their parents, and just able to fly nicely. It took me only a 

 few minutes to locate the nest in an apple tree eight feet up, and 

 only eighty-five yards distant from the site of the first nest in the fir. 

 And so matters had worked out as I had expected, and the birds 

 had reverted to a natural elevation and site, which I feel sure 

 would have been the case in the first instance, if it had not been 

 for the excellent cover afforded by that accidental fir tree being 

 on the ground that the birds had selected as eminently suitable for 

 affording them their necessary food supply. 



