72 THE BIRDS OF BERKS AND BUCKS. 



ORDER II. INSESSORES. 

 Tribe DENTIROSTRES. Family LANIAD^E. 



RED-BACKED SHRIKE (Lanius collurio). Local 

 names, Bittcher Bird, Red ^Shrike. This is a regular 

 summer visitant, arriving generally in some num- 

 bers about the last week of April, or if it be a 

 backward spring, it does not reach us until the be- 

 ginning of May. It is numerous over every part of 

 Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire, and breeds abun- 

 dantly. Many nests are taken by boys in the woods 

 and hedges round Eton Wick, Surley, Slough, 

 Datchet, and other localities. The nest of this spe- 

 cies is large for the size of the bird, and is roughly 

 constructed ; I have seen numbers of this bird's 

 nests ; they were all rudely built, and had gene- 

 rally a few small bents, hairs, and sometimes some 

 wool, for the lining. 



There is an old woman named Lipscombe who has 

 for many years sold eggs, taken in the neighbour- 

 hood of Eton and Windsor, to the Eton boys; this 

 woman receives about ten eggs of the Red-backed 

 Shrike, on an average, per diem. A friend of mine has 



