Ki:i>hA< KKD S11KIKK 



clamorous family. But there must be an entire absence of Hell-con- 

 sciousness both on the part of parents and young ; for if suspicious 

 of human intrusion into their domestic affairs, the more retiring 

 female drops down into cover with her little ones, though the male 

 will still hold his ground, swishing his tail from side to side, and giving 

 vent to aii^ry jerky syllables. Mean \\hilr bis mate gradually lures her 

 brood to a distant place of safety, and when assured of this he rejoins 

 her, the display of valour being merely put on to cover her retreat 



The food supplied to the young consists largely of beetles, honey- 

 beet and humble-bees, together with grasshoppers and dragon-flies; 

 at least, all the pellets east up by the nestlings which I have examined 

 consist princi|>ally of the undigested portions of insects. Nestlings 

 examined by Mr. Newstead "had been fed extensively upon the 

 rather rare red tailed humble-bee (Bombu* lappvnicus). The lower half 

 of the nest was also lined with the remains of this bee. Two other 

 species of humble-bee were found impaled in the immediate neigh- 

 bourhood of the nest Fledged young contained remains of burial- 

 beetles (Necrophoriu truncator and A r . mortuarum)." ' I think mice and 

 birds are not a staple article of nttrsery diet, but rather the exception, 

 although the adult birds themselves feed on these. Apjrarently 

 shrikes do not rob nests in the immediate neighbourhood of their 

 own, for although their first appearance in May will cause considerable 

 uneasiness amongst smaller birds within their nesting area, yet some 

 kind of compromise is arrived at There seem to be curious points of 

 honour in the animal world, for I have known a litter of young foxes 

 brought up in a bank riddled with rabbit-holes, where both rabbits 

 and foxes used the same main exit and entrance. At night the bark 

 of the old dog-fox could be heard a long way off; and in the grey 

 twilight of dawn or dusk I have seen him come creeping home with a 

 rabbit which was evidently caught at least a quarter of a mile away, 

 there being no other rabbit-warren nearer. The cubs played hide- 

 and-seek round the only tree near their earth ; while the tiny rabbits 



1 Food of tome Britixh Bird*, p. 88. 



