LANDA. 153 
THE WOODCHAT. 
LANIUS POMERANUS, Sparrman. 
Although a common species during the breeding-season on the 
opposite shores of the Continent, the Woodchat Shrike only crosses 
the narrow seas at irregular intervals, and not more than about 
thirty-five examples are known to have been obtained in England 
during the last hundred years. The majority of these have been 
noticed in the southern and eastern districts, and generally at the 
time of migration ; but there is evidence that the bird has nested 
twice near Freshwater in the Isle of Wight, while westward it has 
been known to occur as far as Cornwall. Northward, it has been 
identified on rare occasions up to Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumber- 
Jand and Northumberland ; but there is no proof that it has visited 
Scotland or Ireland. Mr. O. V. Aplin published an excellent 
summary in ‘The Zoologist’ for 1892, pp. 345-352. 
On the Continent the Woodchat breeds from Normandy north- 
eastward as far as the line of the Baltic and the valley of the Vistula, 
beyond which it is of accidental occurrence; while southward 
it is generally distributed throughout Europe, and in the countries 
