142 BULLETIN 19 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



An observation by E. J. Eeimann (1938) reveala a rather unusual 

 encounter between a loggerhead and a yellow chicken snake {Elaphe 

 q. quadrivittata) at Marco Island, Fla. WHiile perhaps an indication 

 of an attempt to secure food, it may have been an instance of the 

 tendency to play, similar to that above, for the size of the snake would 

 rather preclude the idea of the bird being able to despatch it. At any 

 rate, Reimann says that noting a group of men watching something on' 

 the ground, he found the shrike attacking the snake. He says : 



The snake would crawl forward over the ground, and the shrike would fly 

 down from a telegraph wire and, hovering over the snake, would pounce down, 

 grasp the snake by the tail, rise in the air about six inches, and let the tail drop. 

 The snake would immediately fall into a defensive coil and the shrike would 

 alight on the ground about two feet away. It remained there until the snake 

 again wandered off; then it would hover, pounce, and grasp the tail as before. 

 Sitting along a telegraph wire close by, were four newly fledged young shrikes 

 * * * a Mockingbird was also perched on the wire, but the young shrikes 

 took no part in the combat. Due to coming dusk, the shrikes finally moved off 

 and I threw the snake under an old building, to save it from the crowd that had 

 gathered there. 



Another instance of a shrike-snake encounter is submitted by ]\I. G. 

 Vaiden (MS.), but it appears to be directly an attempt at securing 

 food. Driving along a country road on July 4, 1926, he saw a shrike 

 flying across ahead of him carrying, with great difficulty, a snake in 

 its beak. At last it reached the top of a telephone pole, and there a 

 real battle took place. The snake was very much alive and twisted, 

 beat, and turned energetically while the shrike kept striking at it with 

 its beak. After several minutes of watching, he states, "I broke up 

 this feeding, as I had more feeling for the snake than for the shrike." 

 Throwing a clod or two at the pair was enough to drive the bird off, 

 and the snake dropped to the ground, still alive but somewhat "bunged 

 up." It proved to be a rough-scaled green snake ( Opheodrys aestivus) 

 and measured I6I/2 inches long. He concludes by adding: "Unfor- 

 tunately I did not weigh this reptile, but I know that the shrike was 

 handling much more than its own weight. The lifting power of the 

 shrike must be more than the average expected of small birds." This 

 is a very interesting observation as it reveals the loggerhead as pro- 

 portionately more powerful than the bald eagle {Haliaeetus leiico- 

 cephalus). The latter is said by most authorities to be unable to lift 

 more than its own weight, or at the maximum, very little more. The 

 shrike in the foregoing account was handling "much more" than its 

 own weight, though Mr. Vaiden does admit that the snake was not 

 actually weighed. None the less, it is a striking illustration of the 

 virility and determination embodied in this passerine species. 



The loggerhead maintains definite territorial limits and protects 

 them assiduously. S. A. Grimes states that he has often noticed 

 that "each pair of shrikes has an apparently well-defined domain of 



