612 BRITISH BIRDS. 



but as soon as we descended below the pine-region it again became 

 extremely common j and we found the greater number of full clutches 

 during the last fortnight of May. The nest was almost always placed 

 in the fork of an olive-tree^ and composed principally of cudweed 

 {Gnaphalium) — a little hairy-stemmed hairy-leaved plant, with three or 

 four little thistle-like flowers, growing from two to four inches high. 

 These the Woodchats pulled up by the roots and wove together into a 

 compact warm nest, which did not differ very much in colour from the 

 bark of the olive-trees. Occasionally a twig or two was introduced ; but 

 for the most part the cudweed, with its flowers and its root, was f oiindation, 

 wall, and lining to the nest. 



Dixon, when in Algeria, made the following notes on this bird : — "The 

 Woodchat Shrike is one of the commonest birds in Algeria. It arrives 

 from its winter haunts, far beyond the desert, at the end of March, and 

 speedily spreads itself over the entire country. In such a wide area as 

 Algeria its haunts are very varied — from amidst the waving palms of the 

 oases to the juniper-clothed sides of the Aures in a district of almost per- 

 petual snow. We saw it chasing the grasshoppers amidst the wild luxuriant 

 scenery round Philippeville, its showy dress making it a conspicuous object 

 a quarter of a mile away as it sat quietly on the bush-tops. I repeatedly 

 watched the cock bird perched on the bare branches of a fig-tree, and 

 listened to his low warbling song — notes that at once put me in mind of 

 those of the Starling. On the wayside, even in most barren districts, 

 provided a few shrubs occurred, we noticed this bold little bird perched 

 upon them. In the oases it flitted from stump to stump, and sometimes 

 perched on the dead leaf-stems of the palms. But it was perhaps the 

 commonest in the evergreen-oak forests — not in the shady depths of the 

 forests, but in the open places where a good look-out could be kept. It 

 is not a shy bird, and is almost invariably accompanied by its mate. 

 When seriously alarmed, it would often seek seclusion in the dense thorn- 

 bush upon which it had previously been sitting. Its favourite food 

 appears to be grasshoppers; but it will also attack small birds and 

 mammals." 



The food of the Woodchat Shrike is composed of beetles, grasshoppers, 

 and many other insects, which, like the other Shrikes, it will spit on 

 thorns for the purpose of securing them until they are eaten. As already 

 remarked, it will also feed on small birds and mammals. It is often seen 

 on the wing, like a Flycatcher ; and when the capture of an insect is made 

 it returns to its old perching place, ever watchful for an object for a fresh 

 sally into the air. Its song is a pleasing one, uttered in a low strain, and 

 sometimes varied by the introduction of a few carefully imitated notes of 

 its neighbours. Its call-note is a harsh kra-kra; and when alarmed it will 

 utter a loud scream. 



