210 CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 



into the water and strike boldly out for the opposite 

 shore ; in less than a minute the clog arrived on the 

 bank, and catching sight of it immediately captured it 

 in the water before it had time to gain the land. 



The bird, which I examined alive, had not received 

 the slightest injury, being blessed with the full use of 

 both wings and legs, so that its taking to the water was 

 entirely a matter of choice. 



The specimens in the case were obtained in Glenlyon, 

 in Perthshire, during the summer of 1867. The young, 

 which were captured by the retriever, must, I should 

 imagine, have been a second brood, being taken as late 

 as the 1st of September. 



RED-BACKED SHRIKE. 



Case 287. 



The Butcher-bird, as this species is more frequently 

 styled in the south, arrives in the beginning of May, 

 and, after rearing its young, departs early in the 

 autumn. 



In some parts of Sussex, and also in the grass 

 country in the neighbourhood of Harrow-on-the-Hill, 

 a few miles north of London, this bird is particularly 

 abundant. 



I have never myself observed them further north 

 than Norfolk, though they occur in Yorkshire, and 

 have at times, it is said, been met with in Scotland. 



They prey on beetles and other large insects, at 

 times, for convenience in feeding, transfixing them on 

 thorns in hedges. I once noticed a male flying with 

 what appeared to be an old Yellowhammer in his 

 claws : though it is stated that the Shrike occasionally 



