128 BULLETIN 19 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Ohio — Youngstown, October 16. Pennsylvania — Erie, September 21. 

 Maine — Phillips, October 19. New Brunswick — Scotch Lake, Octo- 

 ber 17. Massachusetts — Danvcrs, October 31. New York — Orient, 

 October 22. District of Columbia — Washington, November 7. 



From the few banded northern shrikes the two recoveries available 

 are of some interest. One banded at Hepburn, Saskatchewan, on July 

 4, 1931, was found dead on September 23, 1931, at Cross Timbers, Mo.-; 

 and another banded at Harwich, Mass., on November 8, 1934, was found 

 dead about April 1, 1936, at Clarenceville, Quebec. 



Casual records^. — Eight specimens have been collected in Ber- 

 muda: October 31, 1846; January 23, 1847; March 12, 1850; January 

 1872; January 1, 1876; and three without dates. 



Egg dates. — Alaska : 2 records, May 21 and June 27. 



Labrador : 3 records, June 3 to 17. 



Mackenzie : 3 records. May 20 to June 11. 



LANIUS BOREALIS INVICTUS Grinncll 



NORTHWESTERN SHRIKE 

 HABITS 



This western race of the northern shrike was described by Dr. 

 Joseph Grinnell (1900) , who says of it : 



L. horealis invictus differs from L. borealis borcalis in larger size, paler colora- 

 tion dorsally and greater extent of white markings. These differences are fairly 

 comparable to those between the southwestern L. liidovicianus exculiitoridcs and 

 L. ludovicianus proper. * * • 



During the fall the Northwestern Shrike was met with in the Kowak Valley 

 rather sparingly. Single individuals would be seen, one or two in a day's tramp, 

 in the willow bottoms where they were the terror of the redpolls. On only one 

 occasion did I see more than one in a place. * * * None were seen after 

 October 2Gtb, until March 22nd, when one was secured. During April and May 

 they became fairly common, that is, for shrikes. 



Harry S. Swarth (1926) was evidently not greatly impressed with 

 the wisdom of recognizing this race. He found that there are Alas- 

 kan birds "that lie well within the range of variation of eastern birds, 

 and there are one or two eastern birds with white markings on tlic tail 

 feathers nearly as extensive as in any western ones." After examin- 

 ing a series of over 80 specimens, about equally divided between east- 

 ern and western birds, he writes : "There are a number of winter birds 

 in this series from points lying between the Great Lakes and the Kocky 

 Mountains, and nearly all of these I am unable to allocate to an eastern 

 or a western race with any degree of assurance. Thus, while recog- 

 nizing in the northern shrike a tendency toward development of the 

 characters ascribed to invictus in the western part of its habitat, it 

 seems to me so impossible to define the boundary between an eastern 

 and a western race, or to identify most winter birds taken south of 



