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was ‘“‘seen occasionally about Komayli in January and February, and in the lower Lebka valley 
in August. It appeared to leave the tropical region in the intermediate period; and I did not 
meet with it in the highlands.” 
Dr. von Heuglin observes as follows :— 
“Contrary to the opinion of Brehm, I consider the Nubian Shrike a migrant in Egypt 
and Northern Nubia. Further southward it may be sedentary; but at least north of the equator 
it is not to be found in winter, and generally appears here in the early part of March. In the 
warmer portion of Abyssinia also it arrives as a straggler in August and September. On the 
Nile it inhabits generally the small acacia woods in the vicinity of pasturage. It is rather a 
quiet, peaceable bird, subsisting on coleoptera, which it picks up off the ground, and also from 
the blossoms of the acacia, on hedges, and in cotton-fields.” 
The same naturalist further remarks :— 
“The song never struck me particularly; but Kriiper, on the other hand, describes it as 
resembling that of Hypolais olivetorum.” 
Loche records the Masked Shrike as an accidental visitor in Algeria: and Major Irby 
believes that it occurs in Southern Spain; but as yet no authentic specimens are known from 
that country. 
Respecting the habits and nidification of this Shrike we give the following interesting notes 
by Dr. Tristram, taken in Palestine, and by Dr. Lindermayer in Greece. 
The Rey. Canon Tristram writes as follows:—‘ The most attractive of the Palestine Shrikes 
is the little Lanius nubicus, another migrant, returning about the 20th March. Compared with 
its congeners it is a shy, retiring bird, preferring the inside of the bushes to the bare exposed 
twigs for its perch, and generally concealing itself in leafy thickets. It is very quiet, and seldom 
seen on the wing; but in flight the contrast of its white and black plumage and rufous under- 
parts has a brilliant effect. The nest is remarkably neat, like that of the Chaffinch, but of course 
wider and shallower, placed on a branch or fork, and lined with fine roots or fibres. The eggs, 
four to five in number, though Shrike-like, have a distinct character, the ground being generally 
olive, and the spots always arranged more or less in a zone near the broad end. They can 
scarcely be mistaken for those of any other bird. ‘The Masked Shrike is confined to the upper 
and wooded portions of the country.” 
We are further indebted to Dr. Tristram for the accompanying note :— 
<< Lantus nubicus arrives in Palestine about the 20th of March, without attracting observation. 
The males seem to precede the females by several days, and may be detected quietly creeping 
about the low trees, assuming often a very upright posture. From its habits no one would 
suspect it of being a Shrike.” 
In Greece, Dr. Lindermayer states, 
“This Shrike is, with the Rose-coloured Pastor, the last bird of passage that arrives with | 
us. I have first observed it in the early part of May, on the plains in which straggling unculti- 
vated olive-trees grow. It affects the tops of the trees, from which it gives forth a melodious, 
but monotonous, song. When frightened away it flies to the next high tree, but not in a line, 
zigzag, or horizontal curve, like other birds, but casts itself from the summit of the tree that it 
leaves in a bow-shaped flight almost to the ground, and thence it reaches the summit of the 
