a2 
2 
thorns. He records it as very common on the large plain near Lake Fezzara, and says it is found 
in suitable places on the northern slope of the Atlas. 
Dr. Tristram has forwarded us the following note :— 
“This, in winter, is the only Shrike found north of the Atlas, though in summer it is far 
outnumbered by the return of the neighbouring Lanius lahtora. It seems strictly sedentary. 
In its manners, note, flight, and domestic architecture, as well as in its eggs, in no way does it 
differ from the latter; but on the whole I think it is rather a later breeder, and is not quite so 
fond of courting the public gaze.” 
Captain Loche in his great work gives the following account of the present bird :— 
“In its habits this Shrike does not differ from its congeners. Its food consists of insects, 
small birds, and small mammals, which it captures with remarkable skill. It is sprightly, 
courageous, and quarrelsome, and knows how to make itself feared by birds much larger than 
itself; nor is it rare to see it during the nesting-season attack Buzzards, Kites, and Crows 
which approach its nest, and which it drives off. It builds in trees, or sometimes in high 
bushes, making its nest of small twigs, dry grass, and moss, well woven together, and lining 
it with feathers and down. The eggs, four in number, are whitish, covered with numerous 
small spots of a clear brown, which collect and form a zone towards the end. They measure 
about 26 millims. in length by 20 millims. in breadth. 
We have taken the description and figure of the adult bird from a well-preserved skin in our 
collection, while the young bird is described from a skin collected by Dr. Tristram, at Algiers, 
in September 1856. We notice that in some of the adult birds the grey on the under surface of 
the body is more plainly diffused than in others. Loche supposes these birds to be the females. 
In the preparation of the above article we have examined the following specimens :— 
E Mus. Sharpe and Dresser. 
a, 6, c, d, e, f. Algeria. 
E Mus. H. B. Tristram. 
a-e. Algeria, September 1856 (H. B. T.). f. Blida (J. H. Gurney). 
