FOR CAGES AND A VI ARIES. 183 



THE SHRIEKER. See Godwit (Black-tailed). 



THE SHRIKES. 



The Red-Backed Shrike. 



This bird is also very commonly known as the Flusher ; 

 it is not uncommon in Britain, especially in the southern 

 counties, but is not unknown even in the north. It is a 

 handsome species, about 6 inches in length, of which the 

 tail measures rather more than half. The bill is strong, 

 black in colour, and armed with a sharp hook at the end 

 of the upper mandible. 



The forehead, or rather a narrow band on that part, 

 the lores and a patch surrounding and projecting beyond 

 the eyes, are jet black ; the top of the head and the nape 

 are slate-blue ; the back, reddish-chestnut-brown; the wings, 

 greyish-brown with lighter edges to the wing-coverts and 

 secondaries; the rump, grey; the tail, dark greyish-black 

 at the extremity of the feathers, but the basal portion is 

 white, which is also the colour of the vent; the throat, 

 breast and other under parts, greyish-white; the sides, 

 reddish ; legs and feet, black. 



The female is browner and greyer, and somewhat 

 longer than her mate; and the young all resemble her 

 until after the first moult. 



The nest is built in a thick thorn bush as a rule, and 

 is made of grass and moss bound together strongly with 

 wool and lined with fine roots. The five or six eggs are 

 pale greenish-white, spotted with grey and red. The 

 male sits during the greater part of the day; the female 

 chiefly at night. The young are fed mainly on insects, 

 but also on the offspring of other birds, when the parents 

 succeed in getting some. 



The Shrike has a curious habit of impaling its prey on 

 thorns, and a bush it frequents may often be seen covered 

 with beetles, flies, grasshoppers and other insects, as well 

 as young frogs and immature small birds transfixed in 

 this peculiar manner. 



