GREAT GREY SHRIKE. 
69 
INC ESSO RES. 
DENTIROSTRES. 
LAN IA DjE. 
GREAT GREY SHRIKE. 
Lanius excubitor. 
PLATE XX. KIG. I. 
The eggs of the three British species of Shrike form a 
very beautiful and isolated group, as different from those 
of other birds as they are like each other. 
Like our well known species the red-backed shrike, 
this bird makes its nest in thick bushes and high hedges; 
it is large, and composed of the stalks of umbelliferous 
plants, roots, moss, and wool, lined with finer roots and 
dry grass. The eggs are four or five, and it is said some¬ 
times six or seven in number; though differing a good 
deal in the frequency of the spots, they still preserve 
more or less the constant characteristic zone. In colour 
they are more sombre than those of the succeeding spe¬ 
cies ; and none of the specimens I have seen are orna¬ 
mented with any of their rich variety of tints. 
