REDBACKEDSHRIKE 



of evergreens. But owing to the male bird's boldness the nest is very 

 easily betrayed, and the e^, of which several beautiful varieties exist, 

 fall then-lore onh too easily into the hands of the marauder. 



The nest, \\hieh is usually plaeed in some dense hed^e or bush, is 

 .1 l.ir-.- loose strueture eoni|>osed of dry grans-stalks and fibrous roots, 

 \Mth an admixture of moss, and sparingly lined with hair. It IH 

 largely disproportioncd to the size of the bird Both sexes share in 

 the task of building; but the incubating is, I believe, chiefly done by 

 ibe female, \\bile her mate mounts ^iiard, and this is \\h\ it is an easy 

 nest to mark down ; for the male is such a conspicuous object, and so 

 lull of wrath, that he rather courts attention than otherwise. If he 

 uere less truenleni. his \\ell-eoneealed home \\ould more fret|iiently 

 escape detection. 



His alarm-note is an angry "chack," which sometimes changes 

 to a note resembling the chirp of a house-sparrow. But when he 

 thinks no one is listening, he pours into the ears of his mate a series 

 of warbling notes which might be deemed a song; while both birds 

 have an extraordinary range of expression, and commune together 

 more after the manner of turtle-doves when discussing their young. 

 I could not have believed that the ordinary raucous voice of the 

 shrike was capable of such exquisite modulations, had I not un- 

 expectedly lifted the veil of their inner life and surprised these 

 reserved and apparently harsh-natured birds, while they were 

 enacting a domestic drama that was almost human in its denouement. 



I was hidden within three feet of a nest which contained four 

 young. The parents either visited the nest together, or followed each 

 other in quick succession ; but the male usually fed the brood from 

 the right side and the female from the left. On one occasion, while the 

 female lingered watching her family with an admiring eye, the male 

 arrived with the head of a nestling bird, which he proceeded to push 

 down the throat of one little shrike, with the result that it was almost 

 choked. He then tried all four in turn, waxing more and more 

 persistent at each failure. Meanwhile the hen bird earned on a 



