54 THE BIRDS OF OUR RAMBLES. 



note of this bird is very characteristic, a loud shrill 

 churr-churr-chack\ and whilst uttering this note, or 

 sitting silently on its perch, the bird is repeatedly 

 moving its tail, not up and down so much, as 

 most birds do, but from side to side, half expanding 

 it the while. I have only noticed this habit in 

 the Red-backed Shrike. The song of this species 

 consists of a few short rambling notes, more 

 remarkable for their peculiarity than their sweet- 

 ness. In addition to these characteristics the bird 

 may be readily identified by its slate-gray head 

 and neck, black line through the eye, rich brown 

 back, black wings, black and white tail, arid 

 rosy-tinted breast. The female is not so showy, 

 being reddish brown above, including the tail, 

 and the underparts have no roseate hue, and 

 are more or less barred with brown. A fortnight 

 or three weeks after its arrival the Red-backed 

 Shrike begins nesting ; and what is very note- 

 worthy, the nest is often built near a much- 

 frequented path, and in an exposed situation, 

 where it as likely as not remains overlooked until 

 long after the young have flown. This nest is 

 rather large, and made of the stalks of plants, 

 often with flowers attached, dry grass, roots, and 

 moss, and lined with finer roots, wool, and horse- 

 hair. The eggs, from four to six in number, vary 

 through almost every shade of green, buff, and 

 pink, spotted and blotched (usually in a zone 

 round the larger end) with brownish red and 

 gray. Red-backed Shrikes leave this country 

 early in autumn in September the old birds 

 apparently leaving us in pairs just as they arrived 

 in spring, a circumstance which goes far to prove 

 that they pair for life. 



