140 BULLETIN 197, UNITED STATES NATIONAL IVIUSEUM 



Weather affects the activity of the loggerhead because it reacts 

 on the food supply. S. A. Grimes (1928) says : "Two of the elements 

 greatly facilitate the capturing of food for the Shrike. Heavy rains 

 drive the subterranean inhabitants to the surface, where they are 

 exposed to the bird's keen sight ; and the grass fire, routing number- 

 less insects, form a veritable cornucopia for this and other species." 

 Weather has adverse effects also as witnessed by F. M. Weston, of 

 Pensacola, Fla., who says (MS.) : "After the prolonged freeze of 

 January 1940, both shrikes and sparrow hawks {Falco sparverius) 

 disappeared from this region for the rest of the winter." The ab- 

 sence of two species sharing the same sort of food leads him to believe 

 that intense and prolottged cold "did away with the winter insect life 

 right down to the grass roots" a most reasonable and logical conclu- 

 sion. 



The flight of the loggerhead is accomplished by very rapid vibra- 

 tions of the wings, an almost labored fluttering, it seems. It does 

 not, however, give the impression of wasted energy. Periods of sail- 

 ing intervene, and the course is usually at low elevations. When se- 

 lecting a perch it sweeps upward to it in a steep glide. When leav- 

 ing, it drops a few feet, then catches the air with the wings, and pro- 

 ceeds with the characteristic rapid beats. The speed attained in 

 flight has been given by Gordon Aymar (1935) at 22 to 28 m. p. h. 

 based on "specific records." 



A sidelight on the flight is indicated by A. L. Pickens, of Paducah, 

 Ky., who writes (MS) : "Another name for the loggerhead shrike in 

 the South is cotton-picker, probably from its bobbing waves of flight 

 above the cotton rows, as if darting down here and there to pluck off 

 a fleece." The writer has never heard this name applied to the bird 

 anywhere in its range but would think that its derivation would be 

 much more apt to apply to the frequent use of cotton in nest-building 

 than the "probable" reason given above. 



The outstanding trait of the loggerhead is its habit of impaling 

 victims on thorns, barbed- wire fences, and similar sliarp projections. 

 This accounts for the local name so universally in vogue — butcher- 

 bird. Supposedly, it is done for the reason of storing a food supply, 

 but probably also to assist in tearing the prey apart in many cases, as 

 the loggerhead does not have very strong claws. The future food 

 supply idea is, no doubt, much more applicable to the northern shrike 

 (Lanius horealis) , for the food in the loggerhead's range is so abun- 

 dant and constantly available that there is rarely an occasion wdien 

 the bird has to resort to already secured prey. Conversely, there are 

 doubtless times when the northern bird is hard put to it in winter 

 and uses a larder far more frequently. Regarding the loggerhead, 

 indeed, many have questioned whether it ever does return to impaled 



