WOODCHAT SURIKK—Eimeoctomis nifiis. 



In many districts of tlie Continent the Woodcliat Shrike 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 colour being very pale bluish 

 white speckled with rusty brown. 



The colouring 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 black, 

 relieved by the white feathers of the scapularies and upper tail-coverts. The primary 

 feathers of the wings are also white 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 colour and partly 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 greyish white. 



