*7 2 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY. 



distinct as in the male ; otherwise as in the latter sex. Total 

 length, 7-5 inches; wing, 3-9. 



Young Paler brown than the adult female, the scapulars 

 and margins of the wing-coverts and quills sandy-buff; rump 

 and upper tail-coverts also sandy-buff; crown and hind-neck 

 pale rufous, mottled with sandy-buff and dusky cross-lines ; 

 ear-coverts dusky blackish ; no black on the forehead ; under- 

 parts white, freckled with narrow dusky lines on the chest. 



Range in Great Britain. A rare and occasional visitor to the 

 southern and eastern counties of England. Two instances 

 its breeding near Freshwater, in the Isle of Wight, are apparently 

 well established. It has occurred as far west as Cornwall, an< 

 as far north as Northumberland and Cumberland, but there are 

 no Scotch or Irish records. 



Range outside the British Islands. A summer visitor throughou 

 the greater part of Europe, being very common in the countrie 

 of the Mediterranean. It ranges as high north as the Bald 

 and the valley of the Vistula, and it is found as far to the east 

 ward as the Caucasus and Western Persia, and occurs frequentl] 

 in Asia Minor, Greece, and Palestine. Its winter home lies ii 

 North-eastern Africa and in Senegambia, and the bird pro 

 bably migrates to a certain extent across the Sahara. It doe 

 not follow the usual route of migration down the Nile Valley 

 so far south as the Red-backed Shrike, as the Woodchat is no 

 found in Southern Africa at all, and is replaced on the wes 

 coast of Africa by a distinct species, L. rutilans 



Habits Resemble those of other Shrikes, feeding largely on 

 insects, especially grasshoppers and beetles. The note is saic 

 to be a harsh krah hack krah, but, according to Mr. Howarc 

 Saunders, the male has a low and rather pretty song in spring 

 and shows great capacity for imitating the notes of other birds 

 The Woodchat is a very conspicuous object in the countries 

 frequents, its white breast being easily seen, as it sits on the top 

 most twig of a bush or tree, on which it mounts guard. It is sak 

 to display great affection for its young. Mr. Seebohm writes 

 " In Greece and Asia Minor I found the Woodchat very com 

 mon. With the exception of the Black-headed Bunting I founc 

 more of its nests than those of any other bird. It is only a 





