THE WOODCHAT. 63 



could be traced, it was with praiseworthy scrupu- 

 losity excluded ; and nearly the first public record 

 of a specimen being captured is in the second 

 edition of Mr Selby's British Ornithology. It is 

 there introduced on the authority of Mr Lead- 

 better, and of the Rev. Mr R. Hamand, of Swaf- 

 fam. Since that, a few more instances have been 

 noticed, and there are some interesting derails pub- 

 lished regarding it by Mr Hoy in the Magazine of 

 Natural History ; but still it can only be viewed 

 as a very rare British straggler, visiting us during 

 the summer months. None of our writers dwell 

 much on the habits of the Woodchat in this 

 country, certainly from the want of opportunity 

 to observe them. Mr Hoy, in the Magazine of 

 Natural History, gives a few interesting particu- 

 lars, though the authority on which he relies is not 

 stated. According to that gentleman, the nest 

 is placed " invariably on trees," the oak being 

 selected in preference, it is composed on the 

 outside of sticks and wool, mixed with the white 

 moss from the bodies of the trees, and is lined 

 with fine grass and wool. The eggs are de- 

 scribed to be smaller, but somewhat similar to 

 those of the red-backed shrike, and as variable in 

 their markings.* 



The Woodchat ranges generally over the mor* 

 temperate parts of the European Continent, but 

 only becomes a common bird in the south. 



* Hoy, Mag. of Natural History, iv. p. 343. Observa- 



