84 THE BRITISH NATURE BOOK 



The constant flicking of the tail is characteristic, and its resemblance, when 

 suddenly seen among the leaves, to a flickering tongue of fire no doubt sug- 

 gested its name to our Anglo-Saxon forefathers " FIRE-START" or "FIRE-TAIL." 

 It haunts the edges of woods and gardens near buildings, and generally places 

 its nest in a hole in a tree or a wall, though sometimes in odd places on the 

 ground, or in a pot. Materials : dry grasses, fibre, strips of bark, and mosses, lined 

 with horsehair and feathers. The eggs five to seven are a pale blue, lighter 

 than the Hedge Sparrow's but practically the same size, occasionally spotted 

 with red. The bird is an insect-eater. It has a low, soft, but disappointing 

 song, opening with a robin-like warble, and then breaking down suddenly 

 into a mere succession of gurgles. The song reminds one closely of the Pied 

 Flycatcher's, and is often uttered on the wing. The alarm note is a " Ptui " 

 like the Chiffchaff s, and a sharp " Tick " like the Robin's. 



Redstart, Black marked by its black and grey hue, lacking the white 

 patch on the forehead and chestnut on the breast, but retaining the " fire "- 

 tail is an autumn and winter visitor, fairly common. It may occasionally 

 breed here, but so far no positive instance is known. The nest is generally 

 in a shed or wall or a rock crevice, and is rather bulky ; the eggs are 

 white. 



Shrike, Bed-backed the " BUTCHER BIRD " classed by old naturalists 

 amongst the birds of prey because of its well-known habit of killing young 

 birds, lizards, mice, bees, beetles, and other insects, and impaling them on 

 thorns, as a sort of " larder." The bird, however, possesses no sort of rela- 

 tionship to the raptores except this rapacious characteristic. It is a summer 

 migrant, one of the last to arrive and first to depart, chiefly found in South 

 and Central England and Wales, very scarce in the extreme west. Its name, 

 shrike, doubtless refers to its shrieking note " Chack-chack," though it has 

 also a low warbling song, very seldom heard, but used intimately when en 

 famitle. Its distinguishing features are the reddish back, grey head, the 

 black streak over the ear coverts, and hooked beak ; but only the cock bird 

 has the back red, the female's being a dull chestnut, and the young are " barred 

 with black on red or reddish grey." 



The nest is placed in bushes, straggling hedges, and tangled undergrowth, 

 and is a bulky structure, in which plenty of moss is used, with stalks and 

 roots, lined with finer material, and hair or down. 



The eggs (five or six) vary in ground colour white, cream, brown, or green- 

 ish, spotted and blotched at the larger end with brown or red. In fact, to 

 my mind, in their variation they bear a close resemblance to a miniature 

 Sparrow Hawk's eggs. They are laid in May. 



The Red-backed Shrike returns regularly to its old nesting place year by 

 year ; so that when once seen, it is probable that in every succeeding season 

 a pair of birds may be found in or near the old haunts. 



The GREAT GREY SHRIKE, 9! inches in length, is an irregular winter visitor, 

 chiefly on the East Coast ; but other continental species occasionally visit 



