Though undeniably unmusical, the red-backed shrike is nevertheless able to imitate with considerable success the notes of other small birds, decoying them by 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 varied with black, grey, rufous, and chestnut-brown, the last being the predominating hue of the upper-parts; hence the name Red-backed Shrike.
The habits of its congener, the Great Grey Shrike, are precisely similar. A caged specimen which had become very tame would take food from its captor's hands. When a bird was given it, the skull was invariably broken at once, after which, holding the body in its claws, the shrike would proceed to tear it in pieces after the fashion of a hawk. Sometimes, instead, the carcase would be forced through the bars of the cage—in lieu of thorns—and then pulled in pieces.
Very different in appearance from the members of the Shrike Family are a group of possibly allied forms known as Wax-wings. Of pleasing but sober coloration, they are remarkable for certain curious appendages to the inner quill-feathers, of a bright sealing-wax red colour, from which they derive their name: similar wax-like appendages occur also, sometimes, on the tail-feathers.
Breeding in the Arctic Circle, wax-wings occur in both the Old and New Worlds, though some species peculiar to the latter region lack the wax-like appendages characteristic of the majority of the species. These birds are erratic in their movements, and large bands occasionally visit the British Islands during the autumn and winter, the eastern counties being usually the most favoured spots; but on the occasion of one of these immigrations, in the winter of 1872, many were seen in the neighbourhood of the North of London. During the summer they feed on insects, but in autumn and winter on berries and fruit. At this time they become very fat and are then captured and sold in large numbers for food in the Russian markets, and occasionally are sent over to London.
Photo by J. T. Newman] [Berkhamsted.
SONG-THRUSH.
A resident British species, sometimes called the Mavis.
Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co.] [Parson's Green.