258 THE GREAT GREY-SHRIKE 



River, Sutton Davies found chiefly capercaillie feathers ; and Macpher- 

 son found those of the pheasant and buzzard in the Rhine valley. 



When Seebohm visited Valkenswaard in 1880 he failed to find 

 a shrike's nest till 19th May, in spite of the fact that nearly all the 

 village boys were on the look-out for nests on his behalf, and in 

 his work on British Birds (i. p. 601) he remarks that the great grey- 

 shrike appears to be an exception to the rule that residents are 

 early breeders here. But he failed to take into account the fact 

 that the eggs have a marketable value, of which the Dutch boys were 

 well aware, so that all the nests found by his emissaries between 

 May 19 and 27 were really second layings of birds which had already 

 been robbed of one clutch before his arrival. The true laying time 

 is in April in Central Europe, varying from about the second week 

 in South Germany to the end of the month in the north, but eggs 

 may often be found quite fresh in May when earlier layings have 

 been destroyed. In the high north, of course, the season is naturally 

 later, and eggs have been found slightly incubated in June. 



The number of eggs in northern latitudes appears to be rather 

 larger than farther south : for clutches of eight have only been rarely 

 recorded from Germany, and the normal set may be said to range 

 from five to six, occasionally seven. But on the Muonio River Messrs. 

 Stares and Davies found a nest with nine eggs, 1 and sets of seven 

 appear to be not uncommon. The eggs have already been described, 

 and it only remains to say that the hen sits closely and leaves the 

 nest unwillingly. Though only a single brood is reared as a rule, 

 there is no doubt that a second is occasionally reared. Thus Carl 

 Sachse states that from one pair whose first brood had been success- 

 fully hatched off, his brother took a clutch of four fresh eggs on 

 June 17. Probably many such nests escape notice in the thick 

 foliage of late summer. 



The food of the species consists of insects of various kinds, in- 

 cluding beetles, wasps, grasshoppers, moths, and caterpillars, as well 



1 Ibis, 1905, p. 72. 



