THE GREAT SHRIKE. 245 



These diminutive "birds are rarely seen in flocks, although a few 

 individuals often accompany the flocks of Tits and Kinglets during the 

 winter. Their flight is rapid and undulated, but generally short merely 

 from one tree to another. While on the wing they utter their cry 

 very constantly. They pair early in April, and build about the end 

 of that month. The nest is generally placed in some hollow in the 

 trunk of a tree, and consists of twigs, grass, fibrous roots, and pieces 

 of bai'k; these are bound together with spiders' webs and the cocoons 

 of chrysalides, and the whole is lined with feathers. Gilbert White 

 says, "A pair of Creepers built at one end of the parsonage house at 

 Greatham. It was very amusing to see them run, creeping up the walls 

 with the agility of a mouse." The eggs, from five to eight in number, 

 are white, spotted with brownish red chiefly at the larger end. The 

 parents sit on the nest by turns, and the young arc hatched in thirteen 



This tiny bird only weighs about two drachms; its plumage is very 

 soft and silky. The upper part of the head is dark brown, with the 

 centre of each feather of a lighter tint. The back is yellowish brown, 

 streaked with pale greyish brown. The wings are dusky and nearly 

 crossed by a whitish band. The tail is greyish brown. The chin, 

 throat, and under surface of the body are silvery white. 



THE GEEAT SHKIKE, 



(Lanius excubitor.) 



PLATE XVI. FIGURE IV. 



THE Great Shrike is not a regular visitor to the British Isles, but 

 a considerable number of specimens have been obtained in England, 

 and a few in Scotland and Ireland, chiefly during the winter months. 

 It is common in most other European countries, and throughout a 

 large portion of Asia, Northern Africa, and North America. 



Its popular name, Butcher Bird, and its generic title, which has the 

 same meaning, have been applied to it on account of the manner in 

 which it slaughters smaller birds, mice, lizards, and insects of all kinds 

 for food. Having deprived them of life by repeated blows on the head 

 with its bill, it affixes them to a thorn, or wedges them into the fork 



