BIRDS 



45. Great Grey Shrike. Lanius excubitor^'L'mn. 

 The great grey shrike, though a compara- 

 tively rare visitor to us, has nevertheless so 

 often been seen that an enumeration of the 

 dates of its occurrence at several places in the 

 county seems scarcely necessary. I have notes 

 of its appearance in the valley of the Avon, 

 and Lees gives Blackmoor Park as a place 

 which it visited in 1867, while Mr. W. Ed- 

 wards says that one was several times seen in 

 the Malvern Cemetery in 1897. 



46. Red-backed Shrike. Lanius collurio, Linn. 

 This is a regular summer migrant, and 



breeds in the Teme valley and in many places 

 in the county. Its habit of impaling food on 

 thorns is too well known to require confirma- 

 tion. A more or less vertical thorn, and one 

 which grows out of a strong branch of a haw- 

 thorn bush, generally so near the middle as to 

 be out of sight, is selected, and unless close 

 search is made it escapes observation. The 

 following articles of food have been seen by 

 the author impaled on thorns by this shrike, 

 namely, mice, shrews, voles, young birds, 

 including a young partridge, blackbeetles, 

 humblebees, bluebottle flies and large-bodied 

 moths. 



[Woodchat Shrike. Lanius pomeranm, 

 Sparrman. 



'Stated by Mrs. Perrott to appear in the 

 neighbourhood of Evesham ' (Hastings, p. 65, 

 1834).] 



47. Waxwing. Ampelis garrulus, Linn. 

 The waxwing has occurred in the county 



several times, perhaps not very infrequently. 

 A fine male was shot at Atch Lench in the 

 winter of 1859-60, and soon after came into 

 the hands of the writer. In February, 1893, 

 one which had been shot near Worcester was 

 brought to Mr. Holloway of that city for 

 preservation. During that winter a consider- 

 able number of waxwings visited England. 



The waxwing is stated by Hastings to be 

 of ' infrequent occurrence ' in the county, and 

 Lees reports that specimens have occurred near 

 Malvern, but he supplies no particulars. Mr. 

 W. Edwards, however, writing from Malvern, 

 says: '1896, three specimens were killed, 

 two at Welland and one at Malvern Wells. 

 I saw a pair feeding on the lawn at Holly 

 Mount.' 



48. Pied Flycatcher. Muscicapa atricapilla, 



Linn. 



' An inhabitant of the woods near Eardis- 

 ton' [Hastings, p. 65). 



To the above I can add several other locali- 

 ties in the county, namely, near to the city of 



Worcester, Spetchley and Malvern. Lees 

 speaks of it as a Malvern bird, ' Rare, but oc- 

 casionally seen ' ; and Mr. W. Edwards says, 

 ' One at the Rhydd, near Hanley Castle.' 

 This bird has also been seen at Powick. In 

 the near parts of the counties of Warwick and 

 Gloucester several specimens have been re- 

 corded. 



49. Spotted Flycatcher. Muscicapa grisola, 



Linn. 

 This is a regular summer migrant, and one 

 of the latest, seldom making its appearance 

 before the end of May. The apple orchards 

 of Worcestershire are peculiarly suited to 

 the habits of the flycatcher, and pairs may be 

 noted in such places all through the summer, 

 taking their station on some low bough or the 

 top of a stake and capturing insects on the 

 wing under the tree. In old orchards there 

 is abundance of places on the crooked and 

 moss-grown trees which are convenient for 

 the lodgment of a nest, and they may be seen 

 stuck about in the quaintest manner. I be- 

 lieve that only one brood is raised, for as well 

 as arriving late in the spring, the flycatcher is 

 one of the earliest to depart in the autumn. 



50. Swallow. Hirundo rustica, Linn. 



It is with the greatest regret that I am 

 obliged to relate that in Worcestershire, as in 

 other counties, the swallow has within the last 

 few years become a comparatively rare bird, 

 and the following will, I believe, give a toler- 

 ably exact idea of the decrease in its numbers. 

 The premises where I now live used a few 

 years ago to afford convenience for as many as 

 seven nests ; but by a gradual decrease they 

 were reduced to one in 1898, and in the sum- 

 mer of 1899, not a single pair nested here. 

 The accommodation remains, and the old nests 

 are still in place, but the birds have gone. That 

 this is not a merely local record will, I think, 

 be evident if a census of the swallows is made 

 at their roosting-places in the osier beds in our 

 streams, where the decrease in their number 

 is so remarkable that I shall not be exaggerat- 

 ing if I say that where there are now scores 

 there were formerly thousands. 



51. House- Martin. Chelidon urhica (Linn.). 

 Like the swallow, the martin now appears 



in decreased numbers, but in not nearly so 

 great a degree. There never was a time 

 when it was as abundant as the swallow, and 

 I cannot call to mind its roosting in clouds 

 like that bird. 



52. Sand-Martin. Cotile riparia (Linn.). 

 There does not seem to be any diminution 



in the number of sand-martins, though, as the 



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