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of the impaling practised so extensively by our Shrikes are twofold. 

 The most obvious one is, that, by impaling the mouse or bird which 

 the Shrike has caught, it may be able to tear the prey to pieces at 

 leisure. The feet of the Shrikes are not powerful enough to 

 accomplish this, and their food is therefore adroitly spitted upon a 

 sharp thorn. But the Shrike has another object in mind. His 

 dashing spirit cannot brook the idea of allowing any prey to pass 

 unmolested ; and therefore he dashes upon his quarry whether 

 hungry or not ; and if his internal feelings prompt him to make a 

 meal of it forthwith, he proceeds to dispose of it then and there. 

 My friend, Mr. O. V. Aplin, a well-known ornithologist, remarks 

 in a letter of July 20, 1883: — "We obtained before breakfast this 

 morning two Bumble-bees, from some thorns. I watched the male 

 Shrike the other evening at work on the thorns, but unfortunately 

 he ate the morsel at once." But if, on the other hand, the Shrike 

 is "crowded," he leaves his booty on the thorn until he has "room" 

 for more. I have said that I have only once seen a wild Shrike 

 impale his prey. It happened in this wise. We were watching a 

 pair of these birds on a Hertfordshire heath one lovely summer 

 evening, when a Bumble-bee passed by ; instantly the male Shrike 

 swooped upon his quarry, and, catching it in his bill, flew with it 

 to a low thorn-bush, on which he spitted it. I then ran in, and 

 found the bee transfixed as neatly as if an entomologist had pinned 

 it to his setting board. 



The Red-backed Shrike builds a bulky nest, usually in a tall 

 hedgerow. The young readily betray the "location" of their 

 cradle by their clamour for fresh supplies of food. The nest is 

 often harried, and I have more than once seen the young of this 

 Shrike offered for sale in Leadenhall Market. 



My special reason for offering you these cursory remarks on this 

 and other species of Shrikes, this evening, is to place before you 

 some observations which I have made upon them under artificial 

 conditions. I have more thaft once reared young Red-backed 

 Slirikes from the nest, and found them interesting pets. They 

 readily become attached to the person who feeds them, and will 

 follow you from room to room, or even about a garden, perching 



