RED-BACKED SHRIKE. 163 



seven inches diameter ; it is usually placed rather high in a 

 strong hedge or thick bush ; the nest, shaped like a cup,, is 

 generally formed of coarse stalks of plants on the outside, 

 with some moss and fibrous roots within, and lined with 

 bents and a few hairs. The eggs are four or five in num- 

 ber, about eleven lines long by eight lines in breadth, gene- 

 rally uniform in size, but very variable in colour, sometimes 

 pale bluish white, spotted with hair-brown and ash-grey, 

 the spots confined to the larger end of the egg, and fre- 

 quently forming a band ; occasionally they are found of a 

 greenish white, with darker spots ; and in many instances 

 the eggs are pale reddish white, spotted with two shades of 

 darker red and reddish brown. Three eggs are exceed- 

 ingly well represented in Mr. W. C. Hewitson's work. 



The parent birds are clamorous over their young brood, 

 and the little family keep together as long as they remain 

 in this country. 



The Red-backed Shrike is common about London, and 

 in most, if not all, the southern and western counties of 

 England and Wales, going northward from thence as far as 

 Cumberland ; but there, as observed by Dr. Heysham, it 

 is rare. It has not, I believe, been observed by Ornitho- 

 logists in any part of Ireland. North of London, on the 

 east coast, it is found in Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, and York- 

 shire ; but occasionally only as far north as Northumber- 

 land and the south-eastern part of Durham. It has not, 

 that I am aware, been noticed in Scotland or its islands ; 

 yet it visits Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Kussia. 

 From thence southward, it is found in Germany, France, 

 Spain, Provence, Italy, Corfu, Sicily, and Malta. Speci- 

 mens were sent by Keith Abbot, Esq. to the Zoological 

 Society from Trebizond ; it also inhabits Egypt and North 

 Africa, is included by Le Vaillant among the birds of 



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