72 
BIRDS OF LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND. 
outer ones greyish-white ; legs and toes, dusky, bluish-black. Stomach contained 
bones and feathers of a bird, presumably a Chaffinch or Robin. 
In Rutland. — A rare winter visitant. — Lord Gainsborough informs me that 
it was observed at Ashwell by Mr. G. Whiting in November, 1885, and at 
Oakham by C. Masters in the winter of 1886-7. 
RED-BACKED SHRIKE. Lanius collurio, Linnseus. 
“ Little Butcher-bird,” “ Red-backed Butcher-bird.” 
A summer migrant, sparingly distributed, and remaining to breed. — 
jNIr. Babington said (Appendix ‘ Potter,’ p. 66) : — “ Two old birds were shot in 
Talbot Lane, 1834 ; and in the following summer there was a brood of young 
birds (Bewick’s Woodchat) in the same neighbourhood, several of which I 
shot.” Harley appears to have found it annually in the hedgerows bordering 
the meadows about Garendon and Dishley. The late Mr. Widdowson “ had 
young ones brought to him from the neighbourhood of IMelton.” IMr. IMacaulay 
writes : — “ Not very common,” and Mr. T. B. Ellis, of the Gynsills, writes : — 
“ Seen once or twice.” I observed a fine male perched upon the dead branch 
of a tree in Narborough “bogs” on 20th June, 1885, and, on 15th July, 1886, 
I saw and watched one for some time at Barrow-on-Soar. I saw, in 1888, two 
specimens (male and female) in the possession of ]Mr. H. ,C. Woodcock, of 
Rearsby, who informs me that they were shot in this county many years ago, 
and were sent in the flesh to the late jMr. Widdowson. 
Harley observed that, in his day, it nested annually, selecting an irregular 
hedgerow, intersected by crab and sloe bushes, in the midst of which it built 
its loose and somewhat slovenly nest, — generally on a bough, a few feet from 
the ground. The nest consisted of small sticks, fibres, and twigs, intertwined 
with a little green moss, and the stalks of long grass and bents, lined with 
wool, hair, and other soft substances. He further remarked that, if not disturbed, 
it would take up its quarters year after year in the same hedgerow. Mr. Daven- 
port writes : — “ I never found its nest in Leicestershire in my life, and I am 
confident it is a rare bird here, whatever people may say to the contrary.” 
I was, however, so fortunate as to find, in the possession of Thos. Adcock, 
a male, female, nest, and one egg, all of which he informs me were procured 
by him in Belgrave parish, on 27th May, 1885, the nest being built in a 
hawthom-bush ; he also remarks that he considers the species rare. 
In Rutland. — A summer migrant, sparingly distributed, and remaining 
to breed. — Lord Gainsborough informs me that it has been seen at Exton by 
Mr. C. M. Berkeley. Mr. Horn reports it from the neighbourhood of Uppingham 
and Bisbrook, where there are many high, thick, hedges, and writes that, in 
1886, several nests were taken near there. Mr. H. Bromley, of North Luffenham, 
wrote me on 23rd May, 1886: — “I saw a Red-backed Shrike this morning — a 
