BRITISH BIRDS 9 NESTS. 253 



his mate sitting upon her eggs. Breeds pretty 

 generally over England, with the exception of the 

 extreme north, but is rarely met with in Scotland 

 or Ireland. 



Materials. Slender twigs, dead grass, stalks, 

 dead weeds, honeysuckle sterns and stalks, roots, 

 wool, moss, and sometimes feathers, lined with hair, 

 sometimes with willow catkins and fine, fibrous 

 roots. As a rule it is a very large nest for the 

 size of the bird ; but I have noticed that specimens 

 differ in this respect as well as in the character 

 of the materials employed in their construction. 



Eggs. Four to six, generally four or five ; very 

 variable in ground colour and markings ; pale 

 buffish-white, spotted, freckled, and blotched with 

 pale reddish-brown, and underlying markings of 

 grey or salmon colour, marked with light red and 

 lilac-grey. Some varieties are white, greyish-white, 

 yellowish-white, or greenish in ground colour. As 

 a rule, the markings form a ring round the larger 

 end. Size about *9 by -66 in. 



Time. May and June. I once found one at 

 the beginning of July. 



Remarks. Migrator}^, arriving in May and de- 

 parting in August or September. Note : call, a 

 harsh croak ; song, a mixture of the notes of the 

 Goldfinch, Blackcap, Nightingale, and other birds 

 frequenting its vicinity, according to Bechstein. 

 Local and other names : Jack Baker, Murdering 

 Pie, Whiskey John, Butcher Bird, Flusher, Cheeter. 

 A close sitter. 



SHRIKE, WOODCHAT. 



A rare and accidental visitor, which is said to 

 have bred once or twice in the Isle of Wight. 



