MY NATURE NOTEBOOK. 



THE GREY SHRIKE. 



Another striking winter visitant which very seldom 

 escapes being shot is the great grey shrike, although 

 the very much rarer lesser grey shrike which I saw 

 on the Norfolk coast in the autumn of 1900 appeared 

 to run the gauntlet of the English gunners success- 

 fully ; * for I saw no announcement that this great 

 prize had been "secured," as the phrase goes, by 

 anybody. But a third and very little-known kind 

 of grey shrike tempted fate in the same locality, and 

 met it. This is known as Pallas's great grey shrike. 

 All three are striking black-white-and-grey birds ; 

 but the lesser grey shrike has a black forehead, while 

 the great grey shrike has a grey forehead and two 

 white patches on each wing. Pallas's great grey 

 shrike has a grey forehead and only one white patch 

 on each wing. There are other differences, which 

 become apparent when you compare dead "speci- 

 mens," but as none of the three are shy birds, you 

 can easily satisfy yourself as to their identity without 

 killing them. The two great grey shrikes are winter 

 visitants, but the lesser merely passes through the 

 country during the spring and autumn migrations 

 and so rarely that he is scarcely seen once in twenty 

 years. 



STRAYING WILD DUCK. 



January 16. As the end of January draws near, 

 the miscellaneous shooter keeps finger on trigger while 

 approaching small pools or streams of water, for the 



* It, or another, was shot in the same neighbourhood in October, 

 1902. 



