NATURAL HISTORY. 267 



prey, the Shrike, by a few blows on the head from its powerful 

 bill destroys it. The unfortunate animal is then carried to 

 the nearest hedge, impaled with a thorn, and the Shrike 

 devours it at his leisure. Large insects are treated in the 

 same manner. The name Excubitor or Sentinel is given it 

 from its habit of watching for birds of prey, and chattering 

 loudly directly it perceives them ; thereby proving that, like 

 most other tyrants, he has a great objection to suffering any 

 injury himself. The bird catchers on the Continent take ad- 

 vantage of this peculiarity, to assist them in the capture of 

 the peregrine falcon. The fowler places a small net on the 

 ground, with a pigeon fastened to it by way of bait. A 

 string is attached to the net, and brought within a turf hut 

 where the fowler sits. Close to the hut a shrike is tied to 

 the ground, and two pieces of turf are set up as a shelter for 

 the bird from the weather, and as a refuge from the hawk. 

 The fowler remains within his hut busied with some sedentary 

 occupation, knowing w r ell that his vigilant watchman will not 

 fail to give him notice of the approach of a hawk. Directly 

 a hawk appears in the distance, the shrike becomes agitated ; 

 as it draws nearer, he begins to scream with fright ; and just 

 as the hawk pounces on the pigeon, he runs under his turf, 

 which is the signal to the fowler within the hut to pull the 

 string, thereby enclosing the hawk within the folds of the net. 

 The nest is built on trees, and contains about six eggs, 

 greyish- white, spotted with dark ash on the larger end ; the 

 length of the bird is from nine to ten inches. 



THE RED-BACKED SHRIKE. 



The RED-BACKED SHRIKE is much more common than the 

 last-mentioned bird, and may be seen in and about hedges, in 

 the spring, when it is occupied in building its nest. It is 

 rather a noisy bird, and the nest is so large as to be easily dis- 

 covered. It feeds principally on insects, such as bees, beetles, 

 &c., which may frequently be found impaled on thorns.* 1 



* The insect most commonly found by myself, in this position, was the Staphylinus 

 erythropterus, but 1 have also found ground beetles and humble bees impaled. 



