173



Correspondence, Notes, etc.



head, dark, slate grey. Superciliary stripe, which commences above the

eye, white, changing into buff, runs down each side of nape. Throat,

whitish buff, becoming full buff as it goes around to join the super¬

ciliary stripe. Sides of the head, face, and throat, black. Wing, dark

maroon brown, with light edgings. Tail, dark, the outside rectrices with

rather deep tip of white, the second and third on each side with the

slightest bit of a white tip. The buff of lower throat goes into rather

brighter colour lower down. Thighs and lower tail-coverts again brighter.

Feet, brownish horn-colour. Beak, orange, slightly yellower at the tip ;

culmen and tarsi, black. This bird could I am sure be easily tamed, as

here it is a fearless bird, alwaj’s seen around the houses, &c.


Andagald Catarnarca, Jo EL Beamey.


Argentina, Nov. 20th, 1904.



THE MOULTING OF THE RED-BACKED SHRIKE.


Sir, —In his very interesting article on “The Breeding of the Red-

backed Shrike in Captivity ” in the October number of the Magazine, Dr.

Gunther states that his young birds moulted “ late in the autumn, and

proved to be two males and one female.”


I call attention to Dr. Gunther’s observation in the hope that some o

our members may be able to throw further light 011 this point.


I11 the “Feathered World” recently appeared a contribution by Dr.

S. H. Snell, giving notes on a young male Red-backed Shrike which he

kept from August in one year to the end of the following summer. Dr.

Snell says u In March he commenced to moult. First he shed his mottled

brown tail and acquired the black and white one. Then the breast

moulted, losing the crescentic brown markings and coming out white, with

a lovely pinkish tinge. The hitherto brown streak under the eye became

black, and then the brown head gradually became a beautiful blue grey—-

the whole process occupying about a mouth.”


In July, 1904, I obtained two young Shrikes, which I believe to have

been both males, and I kept them under close observation for five months.

During the whole of this time there was no material change in their

plumage, except that the ground colour of the breast feathers became

rather lighter. Owing to the fierce fights between my two birds they lost

their tails. One of them renewed the latter appendage twice but 011 each

occasion the new feathers were identical in colour with the original ones.

Towards the end of December I lost both birds and sent one to Dr. Butler,

who wrote me as follows under date December 2Sth, 1904:—


“The bird is undoubtedly still in nestling plumage, with barred

upper surface and ill-defined superciliary streak.”


Unless we ascribe the difference in the period of the moult to

difference in treatment, this seems to be a point on which further informa¬

tion would be interesting.



