218 Birds. 
end. It is only an occasional visitor to this country, 
where it is generally found between autumn and spring. 
M The Shrike," says Mr. Yarrell, "feeds on mice, shrews, 
small birds, frogs, lizards, and large insects. After having 
killed its prey, it fixes the body in a forked branch, or 
upon a sharp thorn, the more readily to tear off small 
pieces from it. It is from their habit of killing and 
hanging up their meat, that the Shrikes are called 
Butcher-birds." The head, back, and rump are ash- 
coloured ; the chin and lower part of the body white ; 
the breast and throat varied with dark lines crossing each 
other ; the tips of the feathers of the wings are, fo v the 
most part, white ; it has a black spot by the eye ; the 
outermost tail feathers of the male are all over white ; 
the two middlemost have only their tips white, the rest 
of the feathers being black, as well as the legs and feet. 
It builds its nest among thorny shrubs and dwarf trees, 
and furnishes it with moss, wool, and downy herbs, 
where the female lays five or six eggs. A peculiarity 
belonging to the birds of this kind is, that they do not, 
like most other birds, expel the young ones from the 
nest as soon as they can provide for themselves, but the 
whole brood live together in one family. The Butcher- 
bird will chase all the small birds upon the wing, and 
will sometimes venture to attack partridges, and even 
young hares. Thrushes and blackbirds are frequently 
their prey: the Shrike fixes on them with its talons, 
splits the skull with its bill, and feeds on them at leisure. 
On this account Linnseus classed the Shrikes with the 
birds of prey ; but modern naturalists have placed them 
with the insect-eaters, as insects are their principal food. 
It is easy to distinguish these birds at a distance, not 
only from their going in companies, but also from their 
manner of flying, which is always up and down, seldom 
in a direct line, or obliquely. 
The Little Butcher-bird (Lanius collurio), called in York- 
shire, Flusher, is about the size of a lark, with a large 
head. About the nostrils and corners of the mouth it 
has black hairs or bristles ; and round the eyes a large 
black longitudinal spot ; the back and upper side of the 
wings are of a rusty colour ; the head and rump cine- 
