ENNEOCTONUS RUFUS 
Woodchat. 
Lanins rufns, Briss. Orn., tom. ii. p. 147. 
rutilus, Lath. Ind. Orn., Ami. i. p. 70. 
Pomeranus, Spai’r. Mus. Carls., fasc. i. tab. 1. 
Collurio, var. y. riifus, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 301. 
ruficeps, Bechst. Om. Taschenb., vol. i. p. 101. 
castaneus, Risso. 
ruficapillus, Baill. Orn. de la Savoye, tom. ii. p. 32. 
Enneoctonus rufns, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. . p. 362, Enneoctonus, sp. 2. 
pomeranus, Cab. Mus. Hein., Theil i. p. 73. 
AUhy the Woodchat should not be as common in England as in the opposite countries of France and 
Belgium, I cannot conjecture ; yet it is not : neither does it, I belicAm, visit Denmark, Sweden, or Norway. 
AAm may consequently infer that it is a much more southern species than its near ally, the Red-hacked Shrike ; 
indeed, weknoAV that it is particularly common in Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, and Asia Minor; but its range 
over Africa appears to be less extenshe than was formerly supposed. If it be necessary to state Avhat claim 
the AVoodchat has to a place in the fauiia of Great Britain, I may mention that Mr. Rodd, in his List of 
Birds observed in CormAmll, states that “ an adult bird Avas caught in a boat, near Scilly ; and that, in the 
autumn of 1849, scA'eral examples of the young of the year Avere captured on the Scilly Isles, apparently 
drlAmn there by a strong east wind which intercepted their migratory movement southwards:” this, adds 
Mr. Rodd, “ may be regarded as an important fact, as offering good grounds for belieAang that they Avere 
bred in the British Isles.” The late Mr. Hoy mentions an instance of one being killed near Canterbury, and 
another in the neighbourhood of SAvaffliam in Norfolk ; Avhile a male and a female, forming part of the late 
Rev. Francis Henson’s collection, vA cre said to have been killed in Suffolk. Mr. Joseph Clarke, a gentleman 
Avell A^ersed in our native birds, informed Mr. Yarrell that Mr. Adams, of Gorlestone, in Norfolk, has in his 
collection a Woodchat shot by himself ; later still, Mr. Frederick Bond, of Kingsbury, but yesterday (July 
30, 1862) sent me the following note : — “ The AFoodchat has, to my knoAvledge, been several times found 
in the Isle of Wight. In the summer of 1856 a pair made a nest there, but unfortunately it was taken 
before the eggs were laid. In the September of the same year a fine young bird was shot by Mr. H. Rogers ; 
it is now in my possession. In the following year the old birds returned, and the same gentleman sent me 
the nest and five eggs ; he has since observed another nest and eggs, which are now in the collection of my 
friend, the Rev. Mr. Braikenridge. I must mention that I requested Mr. Rogers not to shoot the old birds.” 
Tlie Ausits of the AA^oodchat to England are few and far between ; and neither in Scotland nor in 
Ireland has it yet made its appearance ; at least, no instance of its capture has been recorded. Its triAual 
name would indicate that the bird differs somewhat in its economy from the Red-backed Shrike ; and 
Ave find that such is the case ; for, in his papers published in the ‘ Magazine of Natural History,’ the late 
Mr. Hoy says, “ It differs from La?iius Collurio in the choice of situation for its nest, placing it invariably 
on trees, and preferring the oak. The nest is fixed in the fork of a projecting branch, and is composed, 
on the outside, of sticks and AAmol, mixed Avith Avhite moss from the bodies of the trees, and lined Avith fine 
grass and avooI. The eggs are four or five in number, rather smaller than those of the Red-backed Shrike, 
and varying much in their markings — the ground-colour being pale blue in some, in others a dirty white, 
surrounded near the larger end with a zone of rust-coloured spots ; in some, again, the markings and spots 
are of a paler colour, and more dispersed over the egg. It is not a wild bird, often building close to 
houses and public roads. It is abundant in some parts of the Netherlands, and arrives and departs about 
the same time as Lanins CollurioP 
Lord Lilford states that it is “ very abundant in all the Ionian Islands, arriving about the end of April, 
and breeding in the olive-groves.” (Ibis, vol. ii. p. 135.) 
A fine nest of this bird, brought by myself from Malta, w'as a thick-vv^alled, cup-shaped structure, composed 
of the stems and flowering heads of some creeping and odoriferous plants, and lined with a few extremely 
fine roots. 
The eggs are stone-white, Avith large blotches of olive and grey, those of the latter colour appearing as 
if beneath the surface of the shell ; the spots, too, are not so much disposed in the form of a zone as in 
E. Collurio. I haA^e tAvo eggs in which the ground-colour is huffy, instead of stone-white ; and it is very 
probable that they Avere of a delicate salmon hue before they were bloAvni, like those of E. Collurio. 
