164 BIRDS. 



once saw this done, the birds merely leaving their perch, 

 after the fashion of the flycatchers, darting after some 

 large winged insect and returning to the perch, upon 

 which the genial couple would, so far as I could see, fight 

 vigorously over the prize. Sir H. Maxwell tells me, how- 

 ever, that in 1895 he watched a pair in a chalk-pit near 

 Winchester impale a young mouse. The harsh chatter of 

 these "butcher-birds," varied by an occasional note of 

 purer quality from the male, was heard continually to 

 the middle of July, after which, up to their departure, 

 they were comparatively silent. The nest, a large and 

 clumsy structure of moss, hairs, and feathers, is placed, 

 7 or 8 feet from the ground, in a thorn -hedge. Eggs, 

 6, | inch; greenish grey, with brown and purple spots 

 at the larger end. 



Woodchat. A rare visitor from the South to most Eng- 

 lish counties, but not to Scotland or Ireland. Under 

 forty occurrences have been recorded, but there appears to 

 have been some slight evidence of the bird having bred 

 in the Isle of Wight. The breast is yellowish, the crown 

 reddish-brown, and there is a conspicuous white line before 

 the eye. The woodchat has the hooked bill of all the 

 shrikes. 



13. tTnE WAXWING. 



Of that gay visitor from the North, the Waxwing, 

 occurrences are recorded alas ! through the medium of 

 the gun almost every winter; so that, in spite of one or 

 two blank seasons, it seems fair to regard it as a regular 

 visitor, especially to the north-east portion of Great Britain. 

 In Ireland it rarely occurs, nor has it, curiously enough, 

 been recorded from the Hebrides. Its distinguishing points 

 are the brown crest and the black round the eyes. The 

 general colour is reddish brown, and the wings (hence the 

 name) are curiously tipped with bright red the colour of 

 sealing-wax. The end of the tail is yellow. It feeds on 

 insects. 



