4 
The parent birds attend to their young with great care, and feed them with caterpillars, larve, 
and all sorts of insects, not leaving them until they again undertake the cares of nidification.” 
The following notes have been published by Canon Tristram on the bird as observed by him in 
Northern Africa :—‘ While its numerous congeners who resort to the coast of North Africa are 
all migrants, the Pallid Shrike, which never transgresses the northern limits of the Desert, 
remains a permanent resident, breeding very early, not only in the trees of the oases but in the 
low jujubes and prickly shrubs of the dayats. Its nest and eggs in no way differ from those of 
the Great Grey Shrike, which it much resembles in size and general appearance. It is a 
remarkably fearless bird, and will remain calmly perched on the outmost edge of a palm-leaf 
while a party is sitting and talking beneath the shade of the tree. It is extremely abundant in 
all the oases; and its plaintive cry may be heard in every dayat. I once saw one feasting on an 
impaled Dartford Warbler; but its usual food appears to be the large Blaps, which swarm in 
myriads through the dayats and weds. Under the old nests at least a bushel of beetle-wings 
might be collected; and the insects hang impaled on every jujube thorn around. ‘This is not a 
solitary bird, though hardly gregarious; but three or four may generally be found not far apart. 
It is a special object of dislike to the Willow-Wren, whose clamours frequently disturb its 
noontide siesta. No other Shrike came under my observation in the winter, nor did any appear 
to halt in the Desert on their vernal migration, though on our return to the coast we found that 
at least five species had arrived from the south.” Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., in his essay on the 
ornithology of Algeria, has also given some account of its habits: —‘* While I was at Gardaia a 
great flight of locusts passed over the city, and the White Shrikes fed upon them. This tamest 
of birds is very common in the Mzab country. No clump of trees, or dayat, is without its pair. 
The young are fully grown by the end of April; they infest every garden, preying upon the 
swarms of coleoptera which a high degree of moisture fosters; and, from their habit of not 
immediately eating what they catch, they are generally seen with something in their mouths. A 
favourite perch is the bottom of the crest of a palm where the fronds are broken short, whence 
they can easily dart off to snatch a passing beetle, or rise into the air after a more high-flying 
locust. The Pallid Shrike’s is a laboured flight, slow, but with very rapid beating of the wings. 
Its note is loud and sharp. It can mimic other birds; I have heard a young one utter notes 
which were the exact counterpart of those of the Desert Bullfinch (Carpodacus githagineus).” 
We transcribe the following details respecting the present species from Canon Tristram’s 
well-known paper on the ornithology of Palestine. The specimens he brought home were none 
of them yery old, which circumstance caused him to mistake the species for L. excubitor ; but an 
examination which he kindly allowed us to make of his series of examples, has enabled us to see 
that they really belong to LZ. lahtora. He observes:—‘‘ His favourite perch in winter is the 
outermost bough of some bare prickly shrub; and when approached he simply flits to the outside 
of the next bush. He builds his great nest, well defended by thorns from the attacks of Hawks, 
in the middle of a jujube-tree, long before the eggs are out. I have taken eggs incubated in the 
middle of March. While the female is sitting, her mate chooses the most conspicuous perch 
close by, and by his manner invites a scrutiny. But he is bold and daring; and I have seen him 
beat off the Green Lizard, that pest of small nestlings. Generally, however, the prickly bush is 
sufficient to turn even a Lizard. So tame will this Shrike become that after a few days a pair of 
