. Birds of other lands, reptiles, fishes, jointed animals and lower forms;. Zoology; Birds; Reptiles; Fishes. 136 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD Five species are commonl\- included in the list of British birds, aUlioug-h only two occur with am' frequenc}': of these, the GREAT GkEV SllKiKK visits Great l^ritain every winter ; whilst the smaller Red-macked Shkike is an annual summer visitor to those islands, breeding-, howe\-er, onl_\- in lin^-land, occurring but occasionall}' in Scotland, and being almost unknown in Ireland, where only ime specimen has e\'cr been rccurded. The Re1)-1',ACKEI) S
. Birds of other lands, reptiles, fishes, jointed animals and lower forms;. Zoology; Birds; Reptiles; Fishes. 136 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD Five species are commonl\- included in the list of British birds, aUlioug-h only two occur with am' frequenc}': of these, the GREAT GkEV SllKiKK visits Great l^ritain every winter ; whilst the smaller Red-macked Shkike is an annual summer visitor to those islands, breeding-, howe\-er, onl_\- in lin^-land, occurring but occasionall}' in Scotland, and being almost unknown in Ireland, where only ime specimen has e\'cr been rccurded. The Re1)-1',ACKEI) Shrike, writes \)r. Sharpe, " reminds us of a fl\'-catcher in the way in which [it] captures its food, for it has undoubtedl}' favuurite peixhes, on which it sits, and to which it returns after the capture of an insect. It is frequently to be seen on telegraph-wires, where it keeps a sharp look-out in every direction, and a favourite resort is a field of freshly cut grass. It also captures a good man\' mice and small birds, not pursuing them in the open likx- birds of pre\-, but dropping down on them suddenl}'. In the Ki-itish Museum is a ver\' good specimen of the larder of a red-backed shrike, taken with the nest of the bird b\' Lord Walsingham in Norfolk, and showing the Ha\' in which the shrike spits insects and birds ; " ' on thi:u'ns; and the species has been known . . to hang up birds c\'en bigger than itself, such as blackbirds and thrushes, as well as tits of several kinds, robins, and hedge-sparrows, while it will also occasionally seize 3'oung partridges and ; Though undeniabl}- unmusical,the red-backed shrike is ne\'ertheless able to imitate with considerable success the notes of other small birds, decoying them b\' this means within striking distance—an accomplishment shared also by other members of the Shrike Family. The present species is attractively clothed in a plumage \'aried with black, grey, rufous, and chestnut-brown, the last bei
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecad, booksubjectfishes, booksubjectzoology
