44 OUR RARER BIRDS 



clearer and more piercing. This note is not quite so harsh 

 when the bird is calling to its mate. In late spring the 

 male bird utters its simple song a few short pleasing notes, 

 by no means unmusical, and in full harmony with the sur- 

 roundings. 



The Eed- backed Shrike is a somewhat late breeder. 

 You rarely find its nest before the middle or third week in 

 May. It is very probable that this bird pairs for life. Its 

 nest may be found year after year in one chosen spot, and 

 certain districts are generally tenanted every season by their 

 pair of birds. These birds appear to migrate in pairs, and 

 are always seen in pairs upon their arrival in this country. 

 The Eed -backed Shrike displays little caution in building 

 its nest, often placing it in the most exposed situations, near 

 a much frequented footpath, or high up in the tall, windy, 

 and by no means thick hedges. In this particular it 

 resembles the Missel-Thrush ; yet singularly enough its nest 

 very often escapes detection. The nest is a somewhat bulky 

 structure, built in a fork of the hedges, or amongst brambles 

 and briars, or in a dense wayside bush. Trees the bird 

 appears to have no taste for. It is made externally of the dry 

 stems of various plants often with the flowers attached, dead 

 grass, roots, and moss, and lined sparingly with finer roots, 

 horsehair, and sometimes a scrap or two of wool and vegetable 

 down. The eggs are five or six in number, and vary con- 

 siderably in size, shape, and markings. For the sake of 

 clearness we may divide them into four very distinct types. 

 The first of these is pure white or creamy white, speckled 

 and spotted with rich reddish-brown and with larger blotches 

 of violet-gray. The second is pale green, spotted and 

 speckled with olive-brown and paler markings of violet- 

 gray. The third is pale buff, spotted with pale olive-brown 

 and indistinct markings of paler brown and violet -gray. 

 The fourth is salmon -pink, spotted and blotched with 



