THE BIRD-LIFE OF LONDON 



retiring south in September. The bird is fond of sitting 

 on some tall hedge or isolated bush, on a telegraph wire, 

 or any other elevated spot from which a good look-out 

 is possible, and from this perch it darts at intervals 

 in quest of food. This chiefly consists of beetles, bees, 

 wasps, grasshoppers, cockchafers, small birds, mice, and 

 lizards. Many of these when captured are conveyed to 

 some thorn-bush and impaled, where they are left for 

 future use, or the sharp thorn is used as a skewer whilst 

 the object is torn to pieces and eaten. The ordinary call- 

 note of this Shrike is a harsh chirp, but when alarmed 

 it utters a grating cback, something like the note of the 

 Fieldfare. Its song is short, and not very loud or musical. 

 It flies in an undulating way from tree to tree, but may 

 often be seen hovering Kestrel-like above the ground, as if 

 searching the grass for prey. The Red-backed Shrike 

 nests in May and June, and so far as Greater London is 

 concerned the favourite haunts are hedges and thickets. 

 The nests vary a good deal in size, materials, and work- 

 manship, some being very slovenly and loosely put 

 together, others compact and bulky. The usual nest is 

 made of dry grass stalks and the stems of plants, roots, moss, 

 and wool, and finally lined with hair. Other nests are 

 made of dry plants with flowers attached, moss, and wool, 

 with a strengthening girdle of twigs. The four to six 

 eggs vary a good deal in colour and style of markings. 

 The ground colour may be pale blue or green, pale bufT, 

 pink, or even white, spotted, freckled, and blotched with 

 various shades of olive-brown and grey, the markings 

 mostly in an irregular band round the laiger end of the 

 egg. Throughout the period of incubation the male, 

 sentinel-like, is seldom far from the nest. The young are 

 fed and tended for some time after they can fly, and during 

 this period the old Shrikes destroy many small birds. 



The adult male Red-backed Shrike has the head and 

 nape, the upper back, rump, and upper tail-coverts 

 192 



