CHAPTER V. 
THE GREAT GRAY SHRIKE 
(Lanins excubitor). 
“ The May-fly is torn by the Swallow, the Sparrow is spear’d by the Shrike; 
And the whole little wood where I sit is a world of plunder and prey.” 
Tennyson. 
On the highest branch of an isolated tree, on a 
prominent bough of some low bush, on stakes, posts, 
boundary-stones, and such-like elevated situations, we 
may often see a bird perched, proud as a Falcon, watchful 
as an Eagle, and restless as a Flycatcher. This bird is 
the Great Gray Shrike, or Butcher-bird, a member of a 
numerous family, which combines in one the attributes of 
the Falcon and the Warbler. In the spring one may hear 
this bird singing a song of no common order, and if the 
listener pays close attention he will find that it is in 
reality only a jumble, made up of all sorts of strange 
notes and sounds, as well as portions of the songs of 
other birds, which it has stolen from its neighbours, and 
interwoven in the most comical manner possible. This 
medley, which it has strung together bit by bit, is, how¬ 
ever, so pleasant and attractive that one cannot help 
listening to it with a certain amount of interest. In 
Germany we possess four species of this rapacious and 
