186 On the Occurrence of some of the Rarer Species of Birds 



has run by, apparently taking* no notice whatever of either train or 

 noise." In 1845 one of these birds was shot near Mere by a Mr. 

 E. Coward, as I am informed by Mr. E. Baker, of that place; while 

 another was seen by Mr. Ryatt, of Upton Scudamore, in 1875. 

 This bird was patiently watched for for a long time by him, but he 

 could not succeed in getting near enough to secure it. In the same 

 year another specimen was procured near Sherborne, and was sent 

 to Mr. Hart, of Christchurch, for preservation. And I myself pro- 

 cured a nice specimen for my own collection, which was killed in 

 the parish of Bishopstone, about six miles from Salisbury, in the 

 Easter week of 1876, by a nephew of Mr. Sidford, of that place. 

 It was shot on some willow trees that fringe the bank of a little 

 stream running through that parish. 



I believe there is no duly authenticated instance of this bird 

 breeding in England, but I have a record of its nest having been 

 taken close to Salisbury by a Mr. W. King, from whom I have 

 made the closest enquiries, which satisfy me that he was not mistaken 

 as to the identity of the bird, and I therefore think it worth while 

 to give his letter in extenso : " The following is a description of the 

 Grey Shrike's nest taken by me about the end of May, or the be- 

 ginning of June, 1839, about midway between the gas-house wall 

 and the river, called Picked Point, on the left-hand side of the lane, 

 at Fisherton, Salisbury. The nest was built in the upright forks 

 of a very strong thorn hedge, interwoven with brambles. It was a 

 large compact nest, composed of dry grass, moss, and small fibre- 

 roots on the outside, and lined with soft downy feathers, intermixed 

 with a little hair. It contained four eggs of a pale ash colour, I 

 think about the colour of wood-ashes, thickly marked at the larger 

 end with spots, and stripes, or blotches, of a yellowish-red colour. 

 My cousin, Mark Bowey, who is now dead, was with me at the time, 

 and at first I tried to lift him up to the nest, but the old birds came 

 flying round our heads, and screaming at such a rate, that we were 

 afraid of them, and I let him drop. We then commenced driving 

 them away with sticks, and dry cow-dung, and succeeded in driving 

 them to some trees at a little distance. I then took the nest myself, 

 "by cutting away some of the bushes ; but before I could get at it, 



