a fine specimen had lately been sent to him, though he does
not mention where it had been procured. From the fact
that Ray applied to his description of this species the
English name by which it is now generally known, it would
seem as if lie meant it to be regarded as British.
In the British Museum there is a specimen of the Wood-
cliat, a young male, which formerly belonged to Leach’s
collection, and is labelled as having been killed in Kent.
Since that time the occurrence in England of more than
twenty examples has been noticed— chiefly in the southern
and eastern counties. Several have been taken in the Scillv
Isles, and one near Plymouth. Mr. More says (Zool. p. 6851)
that he was informed it had bred twice at Freshwater in the
Isle of Wight, and, although the parents were carefully
respected, one of the nests, with the eggs, as well as a
young bird shot in September, 1856, are in the collection
of Mr. Bond, who has kindly confirmed the statement.
The same gentleman informed Mr. Gould that Mr. Braiken-
ridge has a nest and eggs also received through the same
source. The bird has been obtained near Brighton and a
second time in Kent, while some four or five examples are
said to have been procured in Suffolk, and about as many
in Norfolk, though the assertion of Hunt that it had bred
in the county last named very likely originated in error.
Further inland it is stated to have been met with in Surrey,
Hertfordshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Worcestershire,
and Yorkshire. Mr. R. Gray remarks that it is included in
Don’s list of the birds of Forfarshire, but it seems not to have
been noticed in Scotland by any other observer, and never in
Ireland. Most of the examples taken in England have
occurred during the seasons of migration, and the majority
of them seem to have been in immature plumage.
In size, in most of its habits, and in its mode of feeding,
the Woodcliat resembles the common Red-backed Shrike,
and, like that species, is said to imitate the voice of several
different birds. Hoy has well remarked (Mag. Nat. Hist,
iv. p. 343) that it differs, however, from Lanins collurio “ in
the choice of situation for its nest, placing it invariably on
trees, and preferring the oak. The nest is placed in the
fork of a projecting branch, composed on the outside Avith
sticks and wool, mixed with Avliite moss from the bodies of
the trees, and lined with fine grass and wool.” In the
Netherlands, to which country these observations refer, he
continues, it is not a wild bird, often building close to
houses and public roads, and arrives and departs about the
same time as the Red-backed Shrike. Writing of this
species in Algeria, Mr. Salvin says (Ibis, 1859, p. 312) that
it “ breeds in great numbers on the liill-sides in the neighbourhood
of Djendeli, making a nest composed almost
entirely of one material, viz. a small grey flower, which the
bird collects with the stalk, and entwines into its nest,
employing the same for the lining. The whole structure is
beautifully neat and compact.” Other writers have noticed
that the Woodcliat, like the Lesser Grey Shrike, as already
mentioned, makes choice of odoriferous plants in the construction
of its nest. The eggs are four or five in number,
and very variable; some being white tinged Avith green or
pale olive blotched irregularly with olive and lilac of different
shades, the markings sometimes diffused and sometimes
forming regular spots often disposed in a zone, Avhile
other specimens are of a cream-colour Avith light red and
suffused lilac spots. They measure from -97 to -86 by from
•7 to -65 in.
This Shrike does not visit the most northern parts of the
European continent; but is found in nearly all the countries
lying between the Mediterranean and the Baltic. In Denmark,
hoAvever, it seems to occur only occasionally. In
North Germany it is more abundant, but becomes less
common, according to Dr. Borggreve, to the eastAvard.
There appears to be no trace of it in Russia, except in the
extreme south—the provinces bordering the Caspian and
Black Seas. It inhabits both European and Asiatic Turkey,
and was observed by De Filippi in Persia, reaching that
country probably from Palestine or Arabia, in both of Avhicli
it is found. On the eastern side of Africa its range extends,
according to Dr. von Heuglin, southward as far as lat. 5° N.,