26 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Yol. 14-Xo. 2 



The Food Habits of the Shrikes. 



The Lanhi-'< horeali^ is the true bird of tlie 

 north wind. With the thermometer two fig- 

 ures below zero I have found liim on the Illi- 

 nois prairies perched on the topmost twig of 

 some low tree facing the keen north wind, the 

 very picture of daring, hardihood and energy. 

 He fears nothing that wears wings, and will 

 give battle to any feathered intruder that dares 

 to come near his haunts. Even man he 

 scarcely avoids, and seems rather to seek his 

 presence than otherwise. As a winter resident 

 in Central Illinois his food is small birds and 

 mice, and he exhibits the utmost daring and 

 intrepidity in the pursuit of them. Of late 

 winters they have commended themselves to 

 the good graces of many persons by entering 

 the towns and preying upon that intolerable 

 nuisance, the English sparrow. Nature seems 

 to have provided every living thing witli an 

 enemy or parasite to prevent its overproduction, 

 and it has fondly been hoped that the Great 

 Northern Shrike would solve the problem of 

 the English Sparrow, but alas! their number 

 would have to be legion. 



One warm day in Feb. 18SS, from a window in 

 my office I was watching a Shrike dasliing riglit 

 and left after some Englisli Sparrows that were 

 in the bushes of the back yard. Tatcliing sight 

 of a cage containing canaries in an open win- 

 dow near by it made a dasli for it, and did its 

 utmost to get at the birds, clinging to the side 

 of the cage, and leaving very reluctantly when 

 the mistress of the Iiouse came to the rescue 

 of her pets. The window was closed and the 

 cage hung against it on the inside, when the 

 Shrike again returned and flew against the 

 window with much force. 



A few days ago I saw one in hot pursuit of a 

 Song Sparrow. Around and around through 

 the thick brush and trees they went, the spar- 

 row turning, twisting and doubling in its ef- 

 f(n-ts to shake off its relentless pursuer but 

 without avail. Finally it dashed into a brush 

 pile almost at my horse's feet. But even here 

 the Shrike witli open mouth and flashing eye 

 regardless of my presence still pursued it, and 

 in a few moments they passed out on the 

 other side and disappeared in the woods. Tlie 

 appearance and every action of the bird 

 strongly reminded me of a Cooper's Hawk get- 

 ting down into the grass and weeds to 

 flush a concealed quail. 



Not long since a young farmer invited me 

 out to his field near town where he was husk- 

 ing shock corn, to see a "Mouse Hawk." as he 



called it, catch mice. On coming to where he 

 wa^s at work I looked about for the Shrike but 

 did not see it until he pointed to a tree two 

 hundred yards away where it sat on the top- 

 most twig. Pretty soon a mouse ran from the 

 shock, when it came almost with the rapidity 

 of an arrow, and seizing the mouse in its bill 

 flew away with it to the woods across the river, 

 but in a short time it was back again at its 

 perch on the tree where it did not remain long 

 until another mouse ran out from the shock. 

 In order to test the bird's boldness 1 pur- 

 sued this mouse, but undaunted it flew almost 

 between my feet and secured it, and apparently 

 not liking its hold it alighted a few rods away 

 and hammered tlie mouse on the frozen 

 ground, and then tossing it in the air caught 

 it by the throat as it came down. He then 

 again flew off to the woods. Tins proceeding 

 the farmer assured me would be repeated 

 many times in the course of the day, and that 

 every mouse would be carried to the strip of 

 woods just over the river. Subsequently a 

 chopper told me that he had found a honey 

 locust tree in this woods that liad mice stuck 

 all over it on tlie thorns. 



The White-rumped Shrike is preeminently 

 a summer resident and it leaves for the south 

 as soon as the leaves begin to fall. It dif- 

 fers from the horeaUx in being almost exclu- 

 sively insectivorous in its habits. Beetles and 

 grasshoppers it is especially fond of, and liun- 

 dreds of these insects can be seen sticking on 

 the hedge thorns and barbed wire fences of 

 tlie prairies. They have a strong affection 

 for their young and remain with them after 

 leaving the nest, luintingas a family. It is a 

 very interesting sight indeed to see live or 

 six chubby little fellows perched along a fence 

 or hedge taking lessons from their parents in 

 grasshopper catching. 



I have written this article f)n the Shrikes to 

 follow H. G. Smith's excellent article on the 

 same subject in the Nov. (). & O. This sub- 

 ject might be ])rorttably continued if some ob- 

 server in the far soutli woidd describe the 

 food habits, etc. of tlie Logger-head Shrike. 



11'. .S. Strode. 

 IJeiuailotte, 111. 



\A^hat the Birds Think. 



One sunny day in January I walked down to 

 the river for the purpose of seeing some of my 

 friends, the birds. 



The fields seemed everywhere thronged with 

 sparrows, while flocks of carolling blackbii'ds 



