68 THE WILSON BULLETIN— June, 1921 



parents foraged largely from a telephone wire jnst above 

 the nest. From this lookont they conld watch not on]y the 

 nest bnt also commanded a. view of a considerable area 

 of grassy hillside. Here they watched for the leathery 

 grasshoppers which freqnent the roadsides and when one 

 flew the shrikes were after it instantly. I liave freqnentlj'^ 

 heard people comment on 1"he supposed unerring- accuracj^ 

 with which insectivorous bii'ds capture their prey, but 

 here at least was one instance where such was not the 

 case. Fortunately my blind was so located that I could 

 see both pursuer and pursued and on this date the sJirikes 

 missed fully 50 per cent of the grasshoppers they attempted 

 to catch. From personal experience I know how discon- 

 certing it is to have a gaudy red or yellow winged grass- 

 hopper flying immediately before one and suddenly fold its 

 wings and disappear. Apparently it affected the shrikes 

 in the same manner as they flew aimlessly for a moment 

 and then returned to their perch. From my vantage 

 point, of course, it was easy to see the hopper drop beside 

 a clod, the colors blending perfectly. The shrike, however, 

 being in close pursuit saw a very conspicuous insect sud- 

 denly drop from its plane of vision and, as the grasshopper 

 was motionless on the ground before the shrike could turn, 

 it had everj'thing in its favor. The fact that one shrike 

 caught three out of six seemed to me to be striking proof 

 of keenness of vision and agility on the wing. 



Once an English Sparrow came to the nest and peeped 

 in. Immediately one of the shrikes was after it. They 

 passed from sight around the blind but for several seconds 

 I could hear the rustle of the shrike's wings and the cries 

 of the sparrow. On similar occasions at nests of other 

 species I have seen the sparrows flee from the irate par- 

 ents but never with any such panic stricken fear as in 

 this case. There was no doubt that tlie sparrow had 

 recognized the deadly nature of tlie bird whose home he 

 had so rashly inspected. 



On ordinary occasions the parents were yeiw quiet 

 about the nest although twice one of the birds, presumably 

 the female from the actions, uttered a loud harsh scream 



