Letters, Extracts from Correspondence, Announcements, fyc. 331 
what I believe to be the Ash-coloured Shrike (Lanius ex- 
cubitor ). I was staying at Hayling Island, on the coast of 
Hampshire, at the time, and was out naturalizing, when I saw 
the nest taken out of a large, thick, scrubby hedgerow, consist¬ 
ing principally of brambles and blackthorn. It was found by 
some boys belonging to the Coast-guard Station; and they 
described the old birds, one of which was on the nest at the 
time, as like very large Wheatears. One of the boys had seen 
the birds near the same place about ten days before, and had 
found the nest, which he was obliged to pull down in order to 
see if there were any eggs in it; it was, however, not quite 
finished, and he believed this to be the second nest of the same 
birds. I mentioned the above circumstances to Mr. Hardy, the 
Rector of the island, who is a thorough naturalist, and he con¬ 
firmed me in my belief by telling me that for several years he 
had observed a pair of Ash-coloured Shrikes in his grounds, 
that they frequented some railings in front of his window, 
and that he took great interest in their habits, and had twice 
obtained their nests and eggs. The railings had been removed 
a year or two ago, and he had not seen them since. He also 
told me that he thought there were generally two pairs of these 
birds in the island, and mentioned the exact haunts of the 
others. He is well acquainted with the Red-backed Shrike, 
which is not rare there, and said he was not likely to confound 
them together. 
On getting home I compared the eggs which I had from the 
boys with the Shrikes’ eggs in my cabinet, and they are decidedly 
larger than any of those of the Red-backed which I possess. I 
had my glass with me when I met the boys, and tried hard to 
detect the birds, but without success; and as I soon afterwards 
had to leave the island, I was prevented from going to the 
second locality. If I am able, however, I shall hope another 
year to obtain some further facts on this subject. 
Yours, &c., 
William Henry Hawker. 
Green Hook, Horndean, Hants, 
June 16th, 1859. 
