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THE WO OB CHAT SHRIKE. 



In many districts of the European Continent tlie • Woodchat Slirike is a common bird, 

 especially preferring the warmer and more southern districts. In many parts of Africa it is 

 extremely plentiful, being particularly abundant in Northern Africa. It is also seen at the 

 Cape of Good Hope. On account of their habit of hanging and impaling, the Shrikes are 

 known at the Cape by the popular name of Magistrate Birds. The nest of the Woodchat 

 Shrike is made rather more neatly than that of the red-backed species, and is always placed on 

 the branch of a tree, the oak being preferred for this purpose. The materials of which it is 

 made are pine-twigs, moss, and wool, and it is lined with wool and slender grasses. The eggs 

 are smaller than those of the last-mentioned bird and are quite as variable in their markings, 

 the general color being very pale bluish -white speckled with rusty -brown. 





WOODCHAT SHKIKE.— AVmeoctonus rufus. 



The coloring of the Woodchat Shrike is as follows : The top of the head and back of the 

 neck are rich chestnut-red, a white streak runs across the base of the upper mandible, and a 

 broad black band crosses the forehead and reaches as far as the ear-coverts, enveloping the eye 

 in its progress. The back-wings and wing-coverts are l)lack, relieved by the white feathers of 

 the scapularies and upper tail-coverts. The primary feathers of the wings are also Avhite at 

 their base, and the secondaries are tipped with white. The two central tail-feathers are black, 

 the two exterior feathers white, and the remainder are partly of one color and jiartly of the 

 other. The whole of the under surface is white. In the female, the head and neck are dusky 

 red, the back is brown-black, the wing-coverts are marked with rusty-red, and the breast is 

 grayish-white. 



