THE LESSER GREY SHRIKE.
The Lesser Grey Shrike.
(Lanius minor.)
The habits of this Shrike are, on the whole, those of the larger species, with this difference, that the Lesser Shrike, does not rob nests, but destroys insects, and therefore does good. It also, is a “Watchman.” It sits on a high point and flings its glances round about. Suddenly it darts down, looks about, finds its prey, and flies back to its former perch. When it is keeping watch over a place where the ground is covered with thick growth, it hovers at about half the height of a man, sometimes until it can see something that will serve as prey. If it finds nothing, it will cease to hover, and flies back to its post. Near the highroad it will flit onward from tree to tree, generally slightly in advance of a vehicle, till at last, at some point or other, it turns away over the fields and with a peculiar undulating flight returns to the spot where it started.
The Lesser Shrike is a migrant, and departs for warmer places at the beginning of autumn, returning to its nesting place in this country in the spring. Its cry sounds like “Keejay.” It is by nature quarrelsome, but it embellishes and enlivens the neighbourhood. Inthe warmer parts of Europe, it is the most common of all the Shrikes.
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This species only wanders occasionally to England, a mere straggler, on migratory flight. If it be seen it must be protected, as a useful species, from “the man the gun” who shoots to sell or to enrich his own private collection.