66 THE LESSEE GKEY SHKIKE. 



black, tinged with lead colour, and an inch and one- third high. 

 The forehead is black, and a broad black stripe passes between 

 the eyes ; the head, nape and sides of the neck, back, and 

 upper tail coverts ashen grey, the last the lightest. The whole 

 under part of the body white, the breast and belly having a 

 tinge of rose colour ; the wing coverts black, the smallest being 

 bordered with ashen grey ; the quill feathers black, the fore- 

 most leaving the half nearest the base white, which produces a 

 white spot on the wings when folded. The tail is wedge-shaped ; 

 the two outermost feathers are white with black shafts, the 

 third and fourth black, with white roots and points, the fifth 

 and sixth altogether black. 



The female is hardly to be distinguished from the male, ex- 

 cept that she is somewhat smaller, that the stripe on the 

 cheek is shorter and narrower, and that she has only one white 

 tail feather. 



Habitat. The Lesser Shrike is a bird of passage, departing 

 at the beginning of September, and re-appearing early in May. 

 It frequents gardens in the neighbourhood of groves or forests, 

 which at the same time are not far from ploughed fields and 

 pastures. It perches on the tops of trees ; easily descending 

 into smaller bushes, and there lies in wait for insects. 



In confinement a large wire cage is proper for it, such as is 

 used for Larks, but with three perches. It cannot be allowed to 

 range the room, as even when not pressed with hunger, it might 

 chance, either from malice or the mere desire of showing its 

 superior strength, to kill one of its companions. 



Food. When wild it generally feeds on beetles, cockchafers, 

 crickets, breeze-flies, and other insects. It is only after con- 

 tinued wet weather that it sometimes kills a small bird. 



If an old bird be captured, small birds fresh killed, beetles, 

 cockchafers, &c., should be immediately thrown into the cage. 

 Afterwards it will be content with raw or cooked meat. It is 

 indeed a difficult bird to preserve, and costs both time and 

 trouble : as for the first week it must have nothing but beetles 

 and other insects, especially meal-worms. But when it is more 

 accustomed to meat, it soon becomes so tame as to take it from 

 the hand, or will even fly out, the moment the cage is opened, 

 and perch upon the hand to be fed. I once had one. which 

 ate the first named universal paste. Old birds can rarely be 

 kept longer than two years, generally dying of decline. If 



