NOTES TO THE 



in the western parts of England, but I have found it breeding 

 abundantly in some parts of the west ; as, for instance, in 

 Devonshire. One nest in my collection is composed externally 

 of a mixture of grass and roots. The body of the nest is of 

 wool, moss, and grass in layers, forming a substance which, 

 although not very compact, yet has an air of comfort about it. 



" Another nest is composed externally of coarse grass, with a 

 small amount of moss, and is compactly bound together. It is 

 cup-shaped, and is lined with horse-hairs and a few roots almost 

 as fine. A small piece of hemp cord garnishes the rim of the 

 nest, which is altogether as strong and easily lifted as one of the 

 hedge-sparrow. 



" The eggs are mostly a cream-coloured ground, with spots of 

 ash and pale yellow ochre. Some are of a pale blue, and others 

 are of a salmon-coloured ground. They are variously spotted, 

 from dull ash-coloured green to bright red, which last is gene- 

 rally mixed with pure ash and pale ochre. They have very 

 generally a zone of spots towards the larger end, and are very 

 seldom thickly spotted all over, so as in the least degree to 

 obscure the ground colour, except where the zone of spots is. 

 The number of eggs varies from five to seven." G. NAPIER. 



Mr. Gould gives four Shrikes. Genus Lanius : 1. The great 

 grey shrike, L. excubitor ; 2. Lanius minor, rose breasted shrike. 

 Genus Enneoctonus ; 3. Butcher-bird, E. collurio ; 4. Wood- 

 chat shrike, E. rufus. 



In order that the reader may understand the meaning of the 

 terms " flur stick " and " brace birds," I now give an extract 

 from an article I published in Land and Water, No. 501, Aug. 28, 

 1875, describing a day's bird-catching at Mr. Burr's park, at 

 Aldermaston, near Reading, with Mr. Davy, the bird-catcher. 

 The process of laying the nets is as follows : Two nets, twelve 

 yards long (and, when open, covering the ground twenty feet 

 wide), are neatly laid down on the ground. It is impossible, 

 without a diagram, to describe the rough yet very excellent 

 machinery by which a pull on the rope held by the bird-catcher ' 

 will make these harmless-looking nets instantly spring into the 

 air and catch the birds, either on the wing or on the ground. 

 The nets act so quickly that the eye can scarcely follow their 

 spring. Anything on the wing crossing them four feet high will 

 be shut in instantly. It is better to catch the bird before he 



1 When catching small birds, the bird-catcher stands eighteen yards from 

 the nets ; when catching blackbirds, thrushes, or starlings, position is taken up 

 at twenty-five yards. 



