42 OUR RARER BIRDS 



haunt. It is a bird of the rich well-cultivated lowlands, shun- 

 ning the moors and the mountains of the north. It loves to 

 frequent the broad rough meadows separated by tall hedges 

 which are allowed to grow uncut, and where there is a sprink- 

 ling of stunted bushes on which it loves to perch Flycatcher-like 

 and wait for its prey. You may often meet with it by the 

 country roadside, especially where a broad strip of short grass 

 extends on either side, studded here and there with thorn 

 bushes and occasional clumps of brambles and briars. 

 Another favourite haunt of this handsome bird is on the open 

 common, where it frequents the small trees ; and I frequently 

 observe it on the outskirts of woods and occasionally on the 

 downs, where its perching-place is often a mass of chalk, a 

 gatepost, or a stone wall. 



The Eed-backed Shrike is a summer visitor to this country, 

 arriving late in spring, generally not before the beginning of 

 May, when the small birds are plentiful and the insects and 

 mice have come out of their long winter's trance. Its arrival 

 may readily be noticed, for this bird is one of the most 

 conspicuous, that thrusts itself before our notice on every 

 occasion we may chance to wander through its accustomed 

 haunts. Perched on the topmost twig of a hedgerow, or on 

 the summit of a solitary bush or stump, or on the palings 

 near the wood or round the water-hole where the cattle drink 

 in the pastures, he may be seen for a long distance ; and as he 

 is by no means a shy bird, if a wary one, we are enabled to 

 watch his actions with ease. In many of his habits he is pre- 

 cisely like a big Flycatcher. Waiting patiently on his ex- 

 posed perch, looking from side to side, every now and then 

 jerking and half-expanding his tail, he watches for the passing 

 beetles and bees that drone lazily by, and flutters into the air 

 to capture them. Sometimes a Bunting, a Whinchat, or a Tit 

 ventures too near, and the hungry Shrike pounces on them 

 unawares, and beats the poor little bird to death with his hard, 



