168 



ON THE WOOD-CHAT. 



country ; if not, I shall consider it as a foreigner, and not to be a 

 variety of the red-backed shrike, as some naturalists have supposed it 

 to be, an error which I can easily prove ; for being abroad this last 

 summer, where wood-chats are in great abundance, I had both the 

 opportunity of finding their nests and of shooting both the old birds and 

 the young, all of which I found differing greatly from the red-backed 

 shrikes, in every respect. 1 had also the opportunity of watching their 

 habits, and found them to be very shy, much more so than the red- 

 backed shrike ; and, like the ash-coloured shrike {L. Excubitor) , 

 keeping watch upon the end of a decayed twig, or upon the tiptop of a 

 tree, and keeping a good look-out upon their pursuer, whom they 

 seldom allow to get within gun-shot. The female differs little from 

 the male ; her colours are more dingy, and the patch of chestnut on the 

 back of the head is not quite so bright, and her breast is a great deal 

 more marked with wavy lines (more or less, according to age), but 

 never totally disappearing, as in that of the male. I here take the 

 liberty of sending you a sketch of a male bird, which I shot in April 

 last at Geneva. I have in my possession at present the male, female, 

 and young of L. Collurio : the young bird is precisely the same as 

 that described by Bewick under the title of the Wood- Chat, and in 

 general appearance differs little from the adult female ; yet, on looking 

 at them closely, one can observe that each feather, on all the upper 

 parts, is fringed with dirty-white, which gives it the appearance of 

 being larger than the old bird, which might probably have led to its 

 being mistaken for another species. I decidedly agree with your very 

 able correspondent Mr. Blyth, that it is absolutely necessary, in col- 

 lecting birds for science, and not for the paltry motive of placing them 

 in cabinets to please the eye, that one should collect different specimens 

 in their different liveries, according to their age and the season of the 

 year ; a plan which I have no doubt, if universally followed, would pre- 

 vent our so frequently meeting with so many doubtful species as we 

 find amongst the families of the falco, picse, tringa, colymbi, mergi, and 

 most of our sea birds. Mr. Blyth, in his description of preserving 

 birds, mentions, that on mounting the skin of a bird, the general fault 

 of bird-stuffers consists in the filling of it out with a great deal too 

 much tow or other stuffing, especially about the neck ; but there is a 

 very simple plan of obviating that, in the following manner, by stuffing 

 the bird with cork, which is more durable, and less likely to be attacked 

 by moths or other insects than anything used. After the body is 

 stripped of its skin, procure a piece of cork of sufficient size ; and hav- 



