THE LESSER GREY SHRIKE. 

 Lanius minor, J. F. Gmelin. 

 Plate 13. 



Of much rarer occurrence than the Great Grey Shrike, the present species 

 has been recorded sixteen times in England, and once on Fair Isle, Scotland. 



The Lesser Grey Shrike is a summer visitor to many parts of Central and 

 Southern Europe, with the exception of Spain, ranging eastwards into Asia, and 

 wintering in South Africa. 



The nest, built of twigs, roots, grasses, and flowering plants, with a lining 

 of wool, hair, and feathers, is often placed in a fruit tree or poplar, and contains 

 from five to seven eggs, which are a delicate bluish-green in ground colour, 

 spotted and blotched with brown and grey. 



The song is described by Seebohm (British Birds, vol. i. p. 604) as "a not 

 unmusical chatter, something like the twitter of the Swallow or Starling, but 

 louder and mixed with some harsher notes." 



This bird is easily distinguished from the Great Grey Shrike by its smaller 

 size, pale salmon-tinted breast and flanks, and by having the forehead black. 

 In the female this part has less black, but otherwise the sexes are much alike. 



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