SHRIKES 



99 



NORTHERN SHRIKE 



Lanius borealis ( "willot 



A O. U. i\uml,cr o.- 



Other Names.— Butcher Bird; Winter Butcher 

 Bird; Northern Butcher Bird: Nine Killer; Winter 

 Shrike; Great Northern Shrike. 



General Description. — Length, lo inches. Upper 

 parts, light grayish-blue; under parts, white: wings 

 and tail, black. 



Color. — Above, plain light bluish-gray, changing to 

 white on lower rump, upper tail-coverts, shoulders, eye- 

 brow region, and front portion of forehead: ear region 

 black, this e.xtending forward beneath lower eyelid and 

 confluent zi'ilh a ItUiek spot in front of the eye: lores, 

 gray: wings and tail, black; secondaries and innermost 

 primaries, tipped with white (the latter more nar- 

 rowly); base of primaries (except three outermost), 

 white across both webs ; showing as a patch ; outermost 

 tail-feather, white with a black spot near base of inner 

 web; second tail-feather with base and extensive ter- 

 minal portion, white; remaining tail-feathers, tipped 

 with white ; cheek region and under parts, white, the 

 chest and sides of breast marked with wavy bars of 

 dusky-grayish ; bill, entirely black in summer, dusky 

 horn color in winter ; iris, brown ; legs and feet, black. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: In bushes or thorny trees, 

 princijjally north of the United States; a large, rude 

 structure of twigs, grasses, leaf and weed stems, lined 

 thickly with moss and feathers. Eggs : 4 to 0, pale 

 bluish green, spotted with brown and dull purple. 



Distribution. — Northern North America ; breeds 

 from northwestern Alaska, northern Mackenzie, and 

 northern Ungava to the base of the Alaska peninsula, 

 central Saskatchew'an, southern Ontario, and southern 



.■^ee (. iilor I'Lite go 



Quebec: winters south to central Califr 

 New Ale.xico. Texas, Kentucky, and \'irg: 



rnia, Arizona, 

 nia. 



Vina by R- Br 



NORTHERN SHRIKE ij 



The Northern Shrike is about an inch longer 

 than the Loggerhead, but the habits of the two 

 birds are quite similar, though in disposition the 

 present species seems to be the more savage of 

 the two. Its appearance always causes conster- 

 nation among the Sparrows and other small 

 birds upon which it preys. It may be recognized at 

 once by its strong colors — gray, black, and white. 

 — and by its flight, which is ]jeculiarly heavy 

 and with rapid flapping. In the open it flies 



near the ground, and, like the Loggerhead, gains 

 its perch by a sudden upward glide. The bird's 

 song, heard usually in March or April, is a 

 jumble of notes, some of them musical, the entire 

 effort suggesting that of the Catbird. Its call- 

 notes are harsh and unpleasant. 



This Shrike seems to have all of the bad habits 

 of its southern relative, but their odium is re- 

 lieved by an apparent taste for English Spar- 

 rows. 



LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE 



Lanius ludovicianus ludovicianus Linnccus 



A O. U. Number 622 



Other Names. — Southern Loggerhead Shrike ; 

 .Southern Butcher Bird ; Butcher Bird ; French Mock- 

 ingbird. 



General Description. — Length, g inches. Upper 



parts, gray : under parts, white ; wings and tail, black. 



Color. — Adults : Above, plain slate-gray, darkest 



(approaching slate-color) on crown, fading gradually 



into paler gray on upper tail-coverts and into white on 



