THE FOOD HABITS OF NEBRASKA BIRDS. 223 



tailed examination of this bird's food has been made, but suf- 

 ficient has been learned to place it along with the entirely use- 

 ful species. Associating as it does with chickadees and nut- 

 hatches, it eats much the same kinds of food, and large numbers 

 of small beetles and beetle larvae, ants, small flies and insect 

 eggs of many kinds are devoured by it. To the horticulturist, 

 especially, the Brown Creeper is an exceedingly valuable ally. 



THE SHRIKES. 



( Lanius borealis, L. ludovicianiis migrans and L. I. excubitorides.) 

 Birds, like men, cannot always be correctly estimated by ap- 

 pearances; for who, on seeing these plain colored, modest de- 

 meanored birds would suspect that such an innocent exterior 

 concealed a nature at times as blood-thirsty as a hawk's. Yet 

 if the bird be carefully watched as it sits like a flycatcher on 

 some elevated perch, it may suddenly dart down at some ven- 

 turesome or unsuspecting small bird or field mouse, and if un- 

 able to snap it up at once, pursue it either to capture or cover. 

 Once caught, the quarry is carried to some sharp thorn or 

 splinter or very often a barb wire fence, and there impaled to 

 be devoured at leisure or to serve as a reserve stock for less 

 fortunate days to come. This impaling habit is general among 

 these birds and not confined to vertebrates but applies to in- 

 sects as well. 



We have three shrikes in Nebraska. All are gray with wings 

 and tail black, conspicuously relieved by white. The Northern 

 Shrike is a winter bird, appearing in October and tarrying un- 

 til late in March. It is larger than the other two, and differs 

 from either in having the breast crossed by fine wavy dark lines 

 in the adult and lacking any black on the forehead. The other 

 two are summer birds, present from the time the Northern 

 Shrike leaves until it returns again, and are known as the 

 Migrant Shrike and the White-rumped Shrike. These two are 

 very similar and differ principally in the latter having the rump 

 distinctly whiter than the back while the former has it about 

 concolorous. The White-rumped is common all over the state, 

 the Migrant only in the eastern half. 



The food of shrikes is all of an animal character. Being a 



