Xov. 1888.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



163 



havR been unable to find liei- way back, for al- 

 though I watched the nest for several days she 

 was not seen to go near it again." 



The next observer who has recorded any 

 facts concerning the nesting of this species is 

 Dr. .1. C. Merrill, f. S. A., who commenced 

 the publication of his valual)le and interesting 

 paper on the •• Hirds of Fort Klamath, Oiegon," 

 in The Auk- for April, 1S8S, (Vol. \', p. i:i9.) 

 Dr. Merrill collected skins and eggs in that 

 locality from .September, 188(1, to August, 1887, 

 and in the July, 1S88, nninl)er of Tlu' Aiik, 

 (Vol. V, p. 2.")!),) he gives his cxpcriciuc wilh 

 the nesting of this species : 



"Though within a limited area the L:irks wen- 

 very common, and the nesting site of cacli pair 

 could easily be located within a few yards, it 

 was only after many lionrs of very thorough 

 and careful search and watching that on May 

 30 a female was seen to leave her coniidi-led 

 nest. On June 4 this contained two eggs but 

 was deserted, a horse having stepped on one 

 edge and crushed it down, but fortunately with- 

 out breaking the eggs. These measure .7!) x .Gl 

 and .81 .v .(;2, and bear a general resemblance to 

 eggs of the other forms of this species, but 

 having none of these at hand for comparison as 

 this is written I will not describe them at 

 length here. I believe these are the only eggs 

 of strif/rita as yet collect<^d, and the second set 

 found. This nest was placed at the base of, 

 and partially under a raised clod of e:irth; a 

 low weed concealed it from .above, and it wag 

 admirably hidden; the rim was flush with the 

 surface of the ground, ami in composition and 

 construction it was like Montana nests of 

 arcnk-ola, but was perhaps rather deeper than 

 the average of these." 



On June 17, Pr. Merrill also found anotlicr 

 nest, containing three young birds. 



After Dr. Merrill's return to the Kasl he very 

 kindly procured for me the services of a com- 

 petent collector at Fort Klamath, who was 

 engaged in taking skins for Mr. William 

 Brewster, and who made a collection of eggs 

 for me last spring in that locality. When they 

 arrived I was delighted to find among- them a 

 set of four eggs of OCucuris alprtUn's xtrujaki. 

 They were taken June 1, 1888. The nest was 

 sunken in the ground, and was a very thin 

 structure, made of grasses. As the collector 

 unfortunately did not preserve it, I am unable 

 to give any further description of its materials 

 than the above, which is taken from the data. 



In general appearance they bear a strong 

 resemblance to eggs of the other sub-species of 

 0. alpi-stris. Two of them have an olive buff 



ground color, while the other two run into a 

 light greenish tint. All four are thickly 

 speckled with olive brown. They measure: 

 .8,') X .59 ; .84 x .60 ; .85 x .58 ; .85 x .59. 



Food of 



the Great 

 Shrike." 



Northern 



liV IIOHACK O. SMITH, .11{., UKNVEl!, COL. 



As inforuKitiwii on this point has been asked 

 for by the readers of llic (i. &(.). afew notes 

 from Colorado will not be out of place. 



Two si)ecies of .Shrike are found at Denver — 

 the one Laiiins hiijvaUs, the other his cousin the 

 White ruinped Shrike. {L. ludovicUnmx excuhi- 

 t or ides). 



The former occurs as a winter resident — the 

 latter as a summer resident. 



Though 1 have examined the stomach con- 

 tents of few specimens, I have found that small 

 winter birds form no small desideratum in their 

 bill of fare. As your correspondent says, this 

 may be partly owing to a scarcity of insect 

 food at this season, for in the fall when the 

 Shrikes first arrive, and as long as insects can 

 l)e found they feed upon them. 



I have found the indigestible portions of 

 grasshoppers, beetles, and small liinls all in the 

 same specimen. 



When I first saw the plate in Audubon's 

 " Birds of America," repi-esenting a Shore Lark 

 captured by a .Shrike I was somewhat surprised 

 that so large a bird should fall a victim to him, 

 but since then I have had several oppor- 

 tunities to observe his actions towards this 

 species, and in fact this is the only bird I have 

 actually seen him capture. 



In coid weatlier — especially it snow is on the 

 ground — Shore Larks and Longspurs gather in 

 large flocks on the fallow fields, grown up to 

 rank weeds, and in such localities one or two 

 Shrikes may usually be seen perched upon tree 

 or fence. Suddenly one flies across the field, 

 low over the fi'i'ding Hock, singles out his victim, 

 strikes and carries him in his claws to some 

 convenient perch. But this species is not the 

 only one preyed upon in this locality. 



Some a\ithors have said that owing to his 

 small size and harmless appearance he gains 

 the confidence of his victims and they suspect 

 nothing until the final capture is efTected. 



While this is doubtless correct to a certain 

 extent, my own observations go to show that 

 the small biids soon learn to know this "wolf 

 in sheep's clothing" as their enemy. I have 



