252 THE GREAT GREY-SHRIKE 



the present time it may be described as an autumn and winter visitor 

 in small but varying numbers, arriving on our east coast in October, 

 and leading an erratic and wandering life here during the winter 

 months, returning to its northern breeding grounds in early spring. 

 The late H. A. Macpherson, in an article in the Zoologist, 1891, p. 96, 

 gives an analysis of eighty-nine definitely recorded occurrences 

 between 1843 and 1882, from which it appears that while only one 

 bird was recorded in September, seventeen were noted in October, 

 twenty-six in November, fifteen in December, nine in January, eight 

 in February, six in March and also in April, and only one in May. 

 There are also a few instances on record where the bird has been seen 

 here in late summer e.g. Mr. G. Goddard's statement that six were 

 seen together near Newbury on 5th August 1810 (Zoologist, 1880, p. 315). 

 As pointed out by Mr. Macpherson, it is quite possible that this may 

 have been a vagrant party from Holland, as the young from an early 

 nest would be able to fly strongly by mid-June, and migrants visited 

 Heligoland on 14th, 15th, and 16th August 1886, while a bird of the 

 year, presumably from Scandinavia, reached Kilnsea on 26th August 

 1877. 1 



An examination of a number of specimens from the British Isles 

 reveals the fact that some show a distinct double white bar on the 

 closed wing, while others have only a single bar. The first bar is due 

 to the presence of white at the bases of the primary quills, while the 

 second bar is only visible when the white extends to the bases of the 

 secondaries also. Gould supposed the double bar to be characteristic 

 of the male bird and the single bar of the female, and it is a curious 

 fact that this is true in a majority of cases, but not all. Seebohm, in 

 his usual positive way, declared that the single and double barred 

 birds were representatives of two distinct geographical races, ascribing 

 the former to Pallas's or the Siberian grey-shrike, Lanius major Pallas, 

 and the latter to the European form, L. exciibitor L., and making the 

 Ural range the dividing line between the two races. Unfortunately 



1 Birds of Yorkshire, i. p. 18!). 



