100 BRITISH LAND BIRDS. 



SHRIKE very rare. The RED-BACKED SHRIKE visits this 

 country in summer, and is one of our latest birds 

 of passage. Its young ones brought up from the 

 nest, grow exceedingly tame, and make very en- 

 gaging pets. The Eev. Mr. Lubbock, in his 

 " Fauna of Norfolk," mentions this, and adds that 

 a friend of his, who had given up falconry, amused 

 himself by seeing his tame shrike catch flies, in 

 the room he inhabited. 



Of the FLYCATCHERS there are two British kinds 

 one common, the other very rare. These birds 

 are smaller than the shrikes, and their bills are 

 less formidable, as their prey is softer, while their 

 wings are longer, since they require to fly swiftly, 

 in pursuit of insects, taken on the wing. 



The SPOTTED FLYCATCHER (frequently called the 

 beam-bird), is one of our latest but, at the same 

 time, most regular, summer visitants. It frequents 

 gardens, and often builds in holes of trees, upon 

 the ends of beams, or on the branches of trees, 

 nailed against walls. It is believed that the same 

 pair of birds return to occupy the same spot, for 

 several years in succession. They have no song, and 

 merely make a chirping call-note. . They act the 

 part of hawks among flies, an c^ are believed to live 

 almost exclusively on winged insects. In the 

 summer days, during those bright and sultry 



