98 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



What is curious, and rare among birds, the 

 male Phainopepla insists on making the nest 

 himself. He generally allows his mate to come 

 and look on, and greets her with joyous song, 

 but he will not let her touch it till all is done. 

 Sometimes he even drives her awav. When 



all is ready for sitting, he lets her take her 

 share of the work, but even then he appears to 

 sit as much as she. Mrs. Bailey found a party 

 of these birds on some pepper-trees, and to her 

 we owe most of what we know of their habits. 

 Olive Tiiorne Miller. 



SHRIKES 



Order Passcrcs ; suborder Osciucs; family Laniida; 



HAT the Shrikes should be " song birds," will seem incongruous to many who 

 know how they come by their popular name of "Butcher Birds." But they 

 are so classified by systematic ornithologists, and not without reason ; for 

 they not only possess vocal organs, but some of the species actually make 

 use of those organs in producing a sort of warbled song. They are song birds 

 of prey. The Shrike family (Laniidcc) have strongly hooked bills; rather 

 short, rounded wings; the tail is nearly as long as the wing, or often longer, 

 and rounded, graduated, or nearly even, but never forked; the plumage is 

 soft, blended, the head never crested, though the feathers of the crown are 

 sometimes rather longer than usual ; the plumage is never with brilliant colors 

 (in the typical members of the group) but with plain gray, brown, or rufous 

 predominating, varied with black and white or pale wine-color; the sexes are usually alike 

 in color and the young always have the plumage barred or transversely streaked. The 

 range of the family includes the northern hemisphere in general and portions of the African 

 and Indo-Malayan regions; in the western hemisphere no sj^ecies are found south of Mexico. 

 The family is rather numerously represented in the Old World, but only one genus and 

 two species occur in America. 



The Shrikes are peculiar in several of their habits, especially in their practice of impaling 

 insects, small birds, and small mammals upon thorns. The purpose of this curious habit 

 is not known with certainty; but the most plausible explanation seems to be that suggested 

 by Mr. Seebohm {History of British Birds and their Eggs) which is that the Shrike, not 

 having sufificiently powerful feet to hold its prey while it is being torn to pieces, therefore 

 avails itself of the aid of a thorn (or, in some case, a crotch) to hold its food while being 

 eaten. This does not, however, explain why the Shrike's victims are so often found in such 

 positions unmutilated, as if placed there for future use or from mere cruelty. 



The food of Shrikes consists of the larger insects (grasshoppers, beetles, etc.), spiders, 

 small frogs, and reptiles, and frequently small birds and mammals, such as mice and shrews. 

 Their favorite position, when resting, is the summit of an isolated small tree or stake, a 

 telegraph wire, or some other prominent perch, from which they can command a wide view 

 in all directions. When flying from one resting place to another the vShrike sweeps downward 

 from its perch and then pursues an undulating flight a few feet above the surface of the 

 ground. 



The ordinary notes of the true Shrikes are harsh, often grating, but most of the species 

 are capable of producing a variety of sounds, in some closely approximating a song; some, 

 indeed, are possessed of considerable musical ability, which some persons, doubtless without 

 reason, suppose to be practiced for the pur]50se of enticing small birds within their reach. 

 Their bulky nests are placed in thickly branched trees, usually among thorny twigs or among 

 intertwining vines, and are usually lined with soft feathers ; the eggs, four to seven in number, 

 are spotted or freckled with olive-brown on a whitish, bufTy, or pale greenish ground color. 



