No. 20. j THE BIRDS OF CONNECTICUT. 343 



The Butcher-bird, when impelled by extreme hunger, becomes 

 very bold, and has been known to enter a room and decapitate a 

 caged canary. 



" In the stomachs of the 67 Butcher-birds examined, 28 species 

 of seed-eating birds were found. Of these 3 were Tree Spar- 

 rows, 5 Juncos, and 7 English Sparrows ; the others could not be 

 named with certainty. The Tree Sparrows and Juncos were 

 found in Shrikes that had been taken in rural districts. On the 

 other hand, English Sparrows were found only in stomachs of 

 birds that had been collected in cities. 



" In speaking of the enemies of the English Sparrow, Pro- 

 fessor W. B. Barrows says : 



" ' Probably the most useful bird in this respect is the Northern 

 Shrike (Lanias borealis), which visits most of our northern 

 cities in winter and feeds freely on the sparrow. At one time 

 this Shrike became so abundant on the Common and public parks 

 in Boston that it threatened to destroy all the sparrows, but the 

 short-sighted authorities kept a man busy shooting the Shrikes, 

 until several dozen had been killed, and the useless sparrows were 

 considered safe.' 



" It is to be hoped that in other cities this enemy of the spar- 

 row will be protected instead of persecuted. If there were six 

 Butcher-birds in each of 20 New England cities, and each Butcher- 

 bird killed one sparrow a day for the three winter months, the re- 

 sult would be a removal of 10,800 sparrows. Since two sparrows 

 could raise under favorable conditions four broods of five each, 

 the increase would be tenfold, so that those destroyed by the 

 Butcher-birds, if allowed to live, would have amounted at the 

 end of the first year to 118,800, and at the end of the second year 

 to 1,306,800 individuals." 



" Mice were found in one-third of the stomachs examined, 

 constituting one-fourth of the food, and were eaten most fre- 

 quently in March. Of these mice 15 were identified as follows: 

 1 white-footed mouse (Peromyscus), 1 harvest mouse (Reitlt- 

 rodontomys) , and 8 meadow mice (Microtus) ." 



" Active insects are much more liable than sluggish ones to 

 fall victims to the Butcher-bird, because objects which at rest 

 cannot be discriminated are instantly seen when moving. Thus 

 it happens that flying grasshoppers and running beetles form a 



