550 THAT THE SHRIKE KEEPS A BUTCHER-SHOP 



closely, that they were hunting for the 'hoppers, some of which 

 they devoured then and there, after beating off their long hind 

 legs, while others were carried to some tree near by and duly 

 impaled. 



The tradition that the Shrike destroys exactly nine victims 

 a day, and which is preserved in the name " Nine-killer ", still 

 sometimes heard, is very ancient, and I do not know to what 

 source it may be traced back. It is a staple myth, which has 

 been current for centuries in folk-lore, and may be found related 

 with gravity in some of the older treatises. 1 should very much 

 like to learn its source and the circumstances under which it 

 was first stamped with authority. The Shrike's most notable 

 trait, — the habit of keeping a butcher-shop, where the bodies of 

 the slain are exposed, — has also been remarked for many hun- 

 dred years, and various ingenious theories have been proposed 

 to explain what has been considered a wholly exceptional and 

 anomalous habit. When fully considered, however, I think it 

 will be found less singular than it at first appears to be. 



The Shrike is a veritable "butcher-bird", in as far as that 

 title may be given to a bird who kills what he does not eat, 

 and his operations in this line have been made the subject 

 of repeated observations, so that we are in possession of all the 

 facts in the case. The birds, mice, and insects are sometimes 

 impaled alive, and left to perish miserably ; sometimes their 

 dead bodies are similarly stuck upon the sharp twigs. The 

 shambles of the pitiless butcher may be found in some thorny 

 tree or bush, which in the course of time presents a curious 

 spectacle, with the numerous creatures sticking here and there. 

 Quite a museum of anatomy is sometimes thus brought together 

 in one place, but as the Shrike is not jyarticular about making 

 a collection of curiosities, we may recognize his work in single 

 specimens scattered anywhere about fields and shrubbery. 



Some have surmised that the bodies are stuck up in this 

 conspicous way as decoys, to allure other victims within reach. 

 This "bait theory" in its fulness is set forth in the article 

 noted below,* which may be taken as a typical illustration of 

 this way of thinking. Mr. Heckewelder represents that whereas 

 the Shrike lives entirely upon mice and small birds (which is 



* 1799. Heckewelder, J. A letter from Mr. John Heckewelder, to Dr. Bar- 

 ton, giving some account of the remarkable instinct of a bird called 

 the Nine-Killer [Lauius borealis]. <[ Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. iv. 

 1799, pp. 104, 127. 



