34^ CONNECTICUT GEOL. AND NAT. HIST. SURVEY. [Bllll. 



unless indirectly, by killing birds and insects that prey upon 

 insect pests. The birds selected, however, are for the most part 

 seed eaters, and consequently less valuable than the insectivorous 

 kinds ; and, if it be granted that the harm done by destruction 

 of one of these birds is counterbalanced by the killing of one 

 mouse, then it follows that the harm done by the Shrike in killing 

 birds is completely offset. Furthermore, the attacks of the 

 Shrike are often directed against the English Sparrow, now so 

 obnoxious in many parts of the United States. Concerning the 

 insect food, it may be safely stated that the percentage of noxious 

 grasshoppers is four times as great as that of the useful ground 

 beetles. 



" In considering the relation of the Shrikes to agriculture, it 

 must be remembered that one inhabits a fertile country where 

 cultivation yields heavy crops, while the other lives in a northern 

 region where agriculture amounts to very little. Therefore, the 

 good or harm done by the Northern Butcher-bird must be mainly 

 accomplished when it migrates south into the United States. 

 From the present limited investigation, it appears that the bene- 

 ficial qualities of both Shrikes outweigh the injurious. Further- 

 more, it is probable that when it is possible to study the summer 

 food habits of the Butcher-bird, this species, like its southern 

 relative, the Loggerhead, will be found to be a destroyer of 

 quantities of grasshoppers and other noxious insects." (Judd, 

 " The Food of Shrikes.") 



The Northern Shrike during its winter sojourn " renders a 

 threefold service by killing grasshoppers, English Sparrows, and 

 mice. The birds and mice together amount to 60 per cent, and 

 insects to 40 per cent, of the food from October to April. Grass- 

 hoppers constitute one-fourth of the food, and are equal to twice 

 the combined amounts of beetles and caterpillars. 



" Apparently no mineral or vegetable matter is intentionally 

 swallowed. Indeed, its exclusively animal diet makes it, prac- 

 tically, a bird of prey, and therefore we must consider what 

 animals it destroys. 



" The Chippewa Indians call this Shrike ' big cannibal bird,' 

 and several instances of cannibalism are recorded. In one case 

 a hungry Butcher-bird pounced upon and carried off his com- 

 panion, which had been shot and laid on the top of a log cabin. 



