NORTHERN SHRIKE 123 



behind cover, it would suddenly swoop upward in an abrupt curve to 

 reach its perch on a treetop. Occasionally, it would hover like a spar- 

 row hawk over an open space, as if looking for mice or insects. 



Francis H. Allen says in his notes : "A shrike I watched mousing 

 over river meadows in Millis, Mass., January 25, 1931, hunted mainly 

 by hovering. It would start off with two or three bounds in the air 

 and then rise almost vertically for perhaps six to ten feet — that is 

 practically vertically at the top of the rise — and then hover for some 

 time, turning its head from left to riglit to scan the grassy marsh. 

 It was a very pretty performance." 



Wendell Taber tells me of a rather unusual action that he saw : 

 "xis it sat on a twig the bird suddenly jumped to another twig slightly 

 to one side and somewhat lower. I estimated the horizontal distance 

 at about eight inches and the vertical descent at about six inches. 

 The jump was accomplished entirely by leg and body motion, with 

 (he wings remaining folded throughout. The branch on which the 

 bird landed was strong enough, so that no visible motion took place 

 under the impact of the bird's landing." 



I have never seen a northern shrike on the ground, nor can I find 

 anything in the literature as to its method of progression there. It 

 must jump or hop vigorously in pursuit of grasshoppers or crickets. 

 Dr. Miller (1031) says that "loggerhead shrikes hop but do not walk. 

 In moving sideways or backward one foot is moved independently of 

 the other. AVhile hopping, the body is held erect and the head held 

 high unless the bird is engaged in investigating objects close to the 

 ground." Probably the northern shrike progresses in a similar 

 manner. 



Voice. — I did not hear the northern shrike sing in Labrador. The 

 singing season had evidently passed, as the young birds were fully 

 grown and the molting season was at hand. The only notes I heard 

 were a variety of twittering, chattering, squealing, or whistling notes, 

 with occasional gurgling warbles in soft tones. Other observers of 

 Labrador birds do not mention its song. 



The males, and sometimes the females, have often been heard sing- 

 ing at various times during their sojourn in the United States and 

 much has been written about it. Aretas A. Saunders writes to me: 

 "I first heard it many years ago in March, before I kept definite notes 

 of singing. The only records I find of hearing the song in late years 

 are November 8, 1921, March 25, and April 8, 1922. It is a long- 

 continued song, suggesting that of the mockingbird, but containing 

 more harsh notes." 



Francis H. Allen describes it in his notes as a "song of indeterminate 

 length, composed of caws and scraping notes and short, very pleasing 

 liquid trills, with occasional whistling notes. The notes may be 



