DOUBTFUL CHARACTERS 125 



you hear a noise, as if some one were clip- 

 ping the hedge with a large pair of shears. 

 These sounds proceed from our shrike, who 

 is on the hunt, mobbed, as he goes along with 

 his very wagtail-like flight, by all the birds in 

 his vicinity. Now he shows on the top shoot 

 of a wild plum, and, so far as his position goes, 

 it is like that of a small hawk. Up he shoots, 

 quivers his wings for a few moments exactly 

 like the " wind-fanner " kestrel, drops his legs 

 and darts down. He has certainly made a 

 capture, for faint peepings are heard ; presently 

 up he shoots to his perch again with his 

 quarry, a hedge-sparrow. This example to the 

 other small birds about, which have been so 

 noisy, is as a rule quite sufficient for a time. 

 Birds, mice, frogs, lizards, and other small 

 things supply the larder of this feathered hunter 

 of the hedges. 



I have seen young birds and a few insects 

 spitted on thorn bushes ; but I am not able 

 to state personally whether this had been done 

 by shrikes or not, as I have never seen them 

 doing it. This admission, however, only applies 

 to my own observations, and does not in the 

 least imply discredit on the statements made 

 by other observers. 



