THE LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE. 



RAMBLER in the fields and 

 woodlands durini; early 

 spriny^ or the latter part 

 ot antuiini is often snr- 

 priscd at finding insects, 

 grasshoppers, dragon flies, beetles of 

 all kinds, and even larger game, mice, 

 and small birds, impaled on twigs and 

 thorns. This is apparently crnel 

 sport, he observes, if he is unacquaint- 

 ed with the Butcher Bird and his 

 habits, and he at once attributes it to 

 the wanton sport of idle children who 

 have not been led to say. 



With hearts to love, with eyes to see, 

 With e irs to hear their minstrelsy; 

 Through us no harm, by deed or word, 

 Shall ever come to any bird. 



If he will look about him, however, 

 the real author of this mischief will 

 soon be detected as he appears with 

 other unfortunate little creatures, 

 which he requires to sustain his own 

 life and that of his nestlings. The 

 offender he finds to be the Shrike of 

 the northern United States, most 

 properly named the Butcher Bird. 

 Like all tyrants he is fierce and brave 

 only in the presence of creatures 

 weaker than himself, and cowers and 

 screams with terror if he sees a falcon. 

 And yet, despite this cruel proceed- 

 iug, which is an implanted instinct 

 like that of the dog which buries 

 bones he never seeks again, there are 

 few more useful birds than the Shrike. 

 In the summer he lives on insects, 

 ninety-eight per cent, of his food for 

 July and August consisting of insects, 

 mainly grasshoppers ; and in winter, 

 when insects are scarce, mice form a 

 very large proportion of his food. 



The Butcher Bird has a very agree- 

 able song, which is soft and musical, 

 and he often shows cleverness as a 

 mocker of other birds. He has been 

 taught to whistle parts of tunes, and 

 is as readily tamed as any of our 

 domestic songsters. 



The nest is usuallv found on the 



outer limbs of trees, often from fifteen 

 to thirty feet from the ground. It is 

 made of long strips of the inner bark 

 of bass-wood, strengthened on the 

 sides with a few dry twigs, stems, and 

 roots, and lined with fine grasses. The 

 eggs are often six in number, of a 

 yellowish or clayey-white, blotched 

 and marbled with dashes of purple, 

 light brown, and j^urplish gray. 

 Pretty eggs to study. 



Readers of Birds wdio are interested 

 in ego^s do not need to disturb the 

 mothers on their nests in order to see 

 and study them. In all the great 

 museums specimens of the eggs of 

 nearly all birds are displa)'ed in cases, 

 and accurately colored plates have 

 been made and published by the 

 Smithsonian Institution and others. 

 The Chicago Academy of Sciences has 

 a fine collection of eggs. Many 

 persons imagine that these institutions 

 engage in cruel slaughter of birds in 

 order to collect eggs aud nests. This, 

 of course, is not true, only the fewest 

 number being taken, and with the 

 exclusive object of placing before the 

 people, not for their amusement but 

 rather for their instruction, specimens 

 of birds and animals which shall serve 

 for their identification in forest and 

 field. 



The Loggerhead Shrike and nest 

 shown in this number were taken under 

 the direction of Mr. F. M. Woodruff, at 

 Worth, 111., about fourteen miles from 

 Chicago. The nest was in a corner of 

 an old hedge of Osage Orange, and 

 about eight feet from the ground. He 

 says in the Osprey that it took con- 

 siderable time and patience to build 

 up a platform of fence boards and old 

 boxes to enable the photographer to 

 do his work. The half-eaten body of 

 a young garter snake was found about 

 midway between the upper surface of 

 the nest and the limb above, where it 

 had been hung up for future use. 



