THE SHRIKES. 
173 
summer visitor to both of these countries, belonging neither to 
the earliest nor to the latest birds of passage. It arrives about 
the first of April, at least three weeks after the Swallows, whose 
range extends into the Arctic Regions, but three weeks before 
the Tree-Warblers ( Hypofais elaica and II. olwetorum), whose 
range does not extend north of the basin of the Mediterranean. 
It is a very conspicuous bird, and cannot easily be overlooked, 
and is very common in the olive-forests. As you descend the 
mountains, the olives in the valley look like a dense forest, 
often extending twenty miles or more ; but when you descend 
into them you ‘find that the trees are planted at some distance 
from each other, and that a considerable cultivation of vines, 
mulberries, and sometimes Indian corn, is carried on between 
them. But it is perhaps on the lower slopes of the hills, where 
the trees are more stunted and the ground is less cultivated, 
that the Woodchat is oftenest to be seen. Perched conspicu- 
ously upon the top of a bush, or even a lofty tree, it appears 
ever to be on the watch for the chance of pouncing down upon 
some unwary insect that may come within its range. Its song 
is by no means unmusical, and very gentle to proceed from 
such raptorial jaws. It reminded me very much of the 
twittering of a Swallow or the warble of a Starling. Some of its 
call-notes, however, are loud and harsh enough ; and I at first 
thought that it was imitating the notes of other birds in order to 
attract them within reach; but inasmuch as the greater number 
of notes it apparently imitated were of birds far too powerful 
for it to grapple with, such cannot be the case. The first nest 
I found in G-eece was at Delphi, not very far from the ruins ot 
the Temple of Apollo. This nest contained six eggs on the 5th 
of May. Higher than 2,000 feet above the level of the sea the 
bird became much rarer; and in the pine-region, 4,000 eet 
above the sea-level, its place seemed to be entirely taken by 
■the Red backed Shrike ; but as soon as we descended below 
the pine-region it again became extremely common ; and we 
found the greater number of full clutches during the last 
fortnight of May.” 
Neat. — Compact and well-built, and placed in the fork of a 
tree, generally without any attempt at concealment. In 
Greece Mr Seebohm found the nest almost invariably in the 
fork of an olive-tree, and “ composed principally of cudweed 
