74 



Flashlights on Nature 



chewing them gradually as he ^oes ; and you 

 do not know a butcher-bird lill you have lighted 

 upon him at home in his woodhmd haunts, with 

 his hving and writliin^ larder collected all round 

 him. 



In size, the butcher-bird (No. i ) is about as lar^e 

 as a lark ; but he is a stouter and handsomer 



bird, especially in his 

 fresh spring plum- 

 age, when he goes 

 a courting, and wins 

 his soberer bride by 

 the beauty of his 

 coat and the gallan- 

 try of his bearing. 

 His colouring is fnie, 

 but somewhat diff 

 cult to describe, his 

 recognised specific 

 name of " the red- 

 backed shrike " being 

 perhaps too strong 

 for his actual iuies. 

 Chestiuit, shading into reddish brown above, would 

 iie a more accurate mode of stating the facts ; but 

 he i> pinky-white beU)W, and h.is dashes of blue, of 

 grey, of pure white, and oi black scattered about 

 in various parts of his plumage. A bright black 

 bill and a dark ha/.el eye add beauty to his sharp 

 and vigorous countenance. Alertness, indeed, is 

 the keynote of his character. 

 . As in most domin;mt races, his lady differs 



NO. I. IIIK miTillhk HIRI>. 



