SHRIKES. 163 



A few years ago, a naturalist, for curiosity, removed to his 

 garden several webs-full of the larvae of the brown -tail moth 

 (Ph. phceorrheus), which, from its numbers and voracity, 

 had been looked upon as a perfect scourge where it abounded. 

 Tor a time, the caterpillars seemed to feed and thrive, and 

 finally spun themselves up. In the next season, however, 

 few came forth ; and at the season when the hedge might 

 have been expected to swarm with the newly-hatched eggs, 

 not one appeared. 



But to return to our Shrikes : in the parts of England 

 frequented by them, no great difficulty or acute observation is 

 requisite for finding them out. In the first place, the bird 

 announces its arrival by a croaking and most unmusical 

 voice, from the summit of some tree ; then it builds a large 

 and ill-concealed nest, which, if not found out by actual 

 detection, the male will usually discover by its own impru- 

 dence, manifesting great uneasiness and clamour when any 

 one approaches. No sooner are the eggs hatched, than the 

 female lends her aid to the discovery of her brood, uniting 

 her vociferations to those of the male. And should the nest, 

 by extraordinary good luck continue undiscovered, no sooner 

 are the young ones capable of making a noise, than they all 

 join in the cry upon any approach to their bush. We have 

 noticed the lengthened kindness existing between the old and 

 young birds ; this begins from the moment of their issuing 

 from the egg ; for no birds can be more assiduous in their 

 attentions to their offspring than the old Shrikes ; feeding 

 them most carefully, long after they have left the nest, an 

 instinctive precaution, probably more necessary in these than 

 most other birds, as, for a long time, in consequence of their 

 being heavy and inactive when young, they would be unable 

 to pursue and capture those winged insects which constitute 

 their chief food. If taken early, they may be easily tamed ; 

 but their pugnacious disposition, which does not appear in 

 their own family circle when wild, is often fatally conspicuous 

 when they are confined in a cage. Mr. Montague, who kept 

 several, found, that at about the end of two months, violent 

 battles ensued, to such a degree, that he was obliged to 

 M 2 



