74 ^^ Account of the LiJllnB of the Nine'Killer, 



hawk, by inflinft, made ufe of this art, in order to decoy the fmaller birds, which feed on 

 infe£ls, and by thefe means have a fair opportunity of catching them. All this I commu- 

 nicated to my friends, on my return home, and they were not lefs aftonifhed at what I had 

 related to them, than I had been on difcovering the fa£l. It being agreed that one or 

 more gentlemen of learning and obfervation fhould more minutely examine into this mat- 

 ter, the proprietor of this farm, with another gentleman and myfelf, went this day out for 

 the purpofe, and viewing the grafshoppers cu a number of thefe fmall trees (fome of 

 which we cut off, and took home), we returned to the tenant, who not only himfelf but 

 alfo his father and filler gave us the beft affurances, that they had, long fince, and from 

 time to time, obferved this bird catching grafshoppers and (licking them up in the manner 

 already related, and that fometimes they had obferved, in places where this fpecies of bird 

 iceps, numbers of grafshoppers ftuck up on a thorn-bufli In like manner. The Reverend 

 Mr. V. Vleck is perfe£lly fatisfied that this bird-hawk is the Lanius Canadenfis (in Bar- 

 tram*), and has obligingly communicated the following account of this little bird-hawk 

 to me : it is extrafted from a German publication printed at Goettingen, in 1778, under 

 the title of " Natural Hiftory for Children, by M. George Chriflian Paff," who after 

 giving a defcriptiou of the different fpecies of this bird, concludes thus : " Why is this 

 bird of prey called the nine-killer ? Becaufc It is faid to have the habit of flicking beetles 

 or other infe£ls, and perhaps fometimes nine of them In fucceffion, upon thorns, that they 

 may not efcape until he has leifure to devour them all at once. And for the fame reafon, 

 it is fometimes called the thorn- flicker." Now by the above account, we fee that it is 

 known in Europe that this fame fpecies of birds a£lually does flick up infe£ls of different 

 kinds on thorns, &c. but it is fuppofed they eat them immediately after being fluck up. 

 Here the cafe is quite otherwife. They remain fluck up, for we mufl fuppofe thefe to 

 have been fluck up at leafl fome weeks ago, and before the hard frofls fet in. The very 

 birds (as we fuppofe) that fluck them up are now on the fame ground, watching the 

 fmaller birds that come out to feed, and have been feen catching the latter but a few days 

 ago. If It were true, that this little hawk had fluck them up for himfelf; how long would 

 he be feeding on one or two hundred grafshoppers ? But if it be intended to feduce the 

 fmaller birds to feed on thefe infe£ls, in order to have an opportunity of catching them, 

 that number, or even one half, or lefs, may be a good bait all winter : and all of us, who 

 have confidered thefe citcumftances, are firmly of opinion, that thefe Infedls thus fluck up, 

 are to ferre as a bait, &c. through the courfe of the winter. 



You will readily excufe my being fo lengthy on this fubje£l. The matter appeared to 

 me of too much confequence to pafs over haflily. I fliall be glad to hear your opinion oa 

 this fubje£l, 



* I do not find that Mr. Bartram has mentioned, in any part of his Tra'vels, a Lanius Canadenfis. 

 Since the date of this letter, Mr. Heckewelder has favoured me with a well -preferved fpecimen of the bird- 

 hawk. It proves to be the Lanius Excubitor of Linnaeus, the great-fhrike of Mr, Pennant. B. S. B. 



I fend 



