THE SHRIKES. 
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ear-coverts dusky blackish; their penultimate tail-feather with a 
good deal of black on the inner web, the outermost one being 
entirely white, as in the adults. 
Note. — In addition to the black forehead of the adult, this species may 
always be recognised, at any age, by the very short first primary, which is 
less than one-third of the second primary. In adult birds, too, there is 
always a beautiful rosy blush on the breast. 
Range in Great Britain. — A rare visitor in autumn and spring, 
having been captured four times, viz. : in November, 1851, in 
the Scilly Isles ; near Great Yarmouth in the spring of 1869, 
and again in the spring of 1875 ; and in September, 1876, near 
Plymouth. 
Range outside the British Islands — A summer visitor to most 
parts of Europe, but not reachingScandinavia regularly, though 
it is occasionally found in Holland, Belgium, Denmark, and 
South Sweden. Eastwards it is found as far as Persia, Turkes- 
tan, and South-western Siberia. It winters in Africa, extend- 
ing down the Nile Valley, and doubtless passing through the 
Lake Regions till it comes to the Lower Congo, Damara Land, 
and the Transvaal. 
Habits. — Mr. Seebohm writes : In both Greece and Asia 
Minor I occasionally met with this bird; but it was nowhere 
so common as either the Woodchat or the Red-backed Shrike; 
nor did it, like the latter bird, ascend into the pine-regions. It 
seemed also to be very rare in the forests of olives which fill 
many of the plains. The ground it preferred was the outskirts 
of cultivation, where trees and bushes of various kinds — small 
oaks, hollies, oleanders, pomegranates, white and pink roses, 
a nd abundance of clematis — struggle for existence amongst 
the broken rocks. Here and there a little patch is cultivated 
with wheat, tobacco, or Indian corn, with a tree or two in the 
middle (olive, almond, or walnut) ; and abundance of cleared 
places grown over with rank vegetation attest the former 
presence of a dying-out civilisation. In these places the 
Lesser Grey Shrike was to be seen, occasionally perched 
conspicuously on the top of a bush. It also frequented the 
gardens near the villages, and is said to regale itself on the 
cherries, figs, and mulberries which grow in the hedges that 
divide them from each other. Its principal food is un- 
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