II. 



LANIUS COLLURIO. (linn.) 

 Red-Backed Shrike, or Butcher Bird. 



The nest of this bird is generally built in a thorn hedge or 

 bush ; it is large, and composed of coarse materials : the 

 outside is formed of the stalks of umbelliferous plants, 

 succeeded by moss and fine grass, with a small portion of 

 wool, and is lined with tender roots, interspersed with a few 

 haire ; the eggs, four or five in number, are beautifully varied 

 in colour and marking, as shown in the accompanying plate. 

 I possess one with the spots round the narrow end. 



The name given to this bird is very appropriate; its 

 butchering propensities have been doubted by some ; I once^ 

 however, had the opportunity of being a witness to them. 

 Seeing one busy in a hedge, I found, upon approaching it, a 

 small bird (on which it had been operating,) firmly fixed 

 upon so blunt a thorn that it must have required consider- 

 able force: its head was torn off, and the body entirely 

 plucked. 



