tout's.] 112 [October 7, 



Fam. 12. — Ampei.id.e. 



74. Ampc'liii cedrornm. Cedar Bird. Res.; but most numerous 



in win., from Nov. to IMoli., durincr which months it is excee(lin<>lv 



• . . . 



abundant at times and in certain places, in large, straggling, erratic 



(locks. I liave seen it in flocks through May. 



Fam. 13. — J^AXiiDiE. 



75. *CoUurio Indovicianun. Loggerhead Shrike. Res.; ab., pai'tic- 

 ularly in the lower parts of" the State. A species highly characteristic 

 of the South Atlantic and Gulf States, being only known from North 

 Carolina to Louisiana (in tlie Gulf States only in winter, according to 

 Audubon), and also being rarely, if ever, found in mountainous dis- 

 tricts. 



Audubon says (Orn. Biog. I, p. 301) : " I have never seen it attack 

 birds, nor stick its prey on thorns, in the manner of the Great Ameri- 

 can Shrike." Against this negative evidence I can bear positive 

 testimony, so far as the latter part of the statement is concerned. 

 At Columbia, where the Loggerhead is a very common bird, frequent- 

 ing the weedy streets and waste fields of the city, I have observed it 

 on nunicrous occasions, and once witnessed the following: a Logger- 

 head was busily foi-aging for msects in the Capitol yard; from its 

 observatory on the top of a tall bush, it pounced upon a large grass- 

 hopper and carried it to a tree near by, which was full of small, sharp 

 twigs. Firmly planting itself upon one of these, with the insect in its 

 beak, the bird, thrust the grasshopper upon a twig, pushing the latter 

 quite through the insect's body by repeated forcible movements. 

 Alter the grasshopper had been transfixeil to the bird's satisf;u'tion, 

 the latter hopped to another part of the tree, where it remained for 

 .some minutes, apparently enjoying the writhlngs of the impaled in- 

 sect, or at least waiting to make sure that it was firm!}' secured. 

 This being evidently the case, the bird at length flew off, resumed its 

 former station, and commenced to hunt for more grasshoppers. 

 ^^'^itilin the next few minutes I saw it capture several more, all of 

 which it ate upon the spot. 



I have not seen any satisfactory explanation of this strange habit 

 of tlie Shrikes; nor am I prepared to offer any. "Writers have 

 drawn largely upon their imagination in treating of the trait. The 

 facts at our commrind are conflicting, and do not fiimish the basis for 

 any very consistent theory as to the why or wherefore, or, particularly, 

 the cui bono of such proceedings on the part of the bird. The com 



