Loggerhead Shrike. 95 



the row. Thus certain sites in the hedgerow are tenanted 

 year after year, while perhaj^s the owners of the site may 

 change with each season. 



During the early portions of the season the shrikes are 

 quite musically inclined, and the males possess a variety 

 of notes which are well adapted to the character of the 

 species. I can only think of the rude war songs of the 

 Spartan soldiers in connection with the musical attempts 

 of these plundering barons. Generally their music is 

 harsh and squeaky, yet at times some of their tones are 

 sweet and sympathetic. One evening, at dusk, in early 

 April, I was walking homeward from an afternoon ramble, 

 when my interest was excited by a strange song, uttered 

 with an earnestness and emphasis new to me. Was it the 

 performance of some genius who had not yet learned to use 

 his musical voice with ease and accuracy? Or was the per- 

 former a migrant with whom I was unacquainted? Yet 

 there was a familiar ring in the short series of notes, re- 

 peated after slight pauses. The performer was hidden in 

 the body of the hedgerow, and was so occupied with his 

 efforts that I approached within six feet of him, sitting 

 near a nest recently finished. It was the veritable love 

 ecstasy of a shrike, to which I had listened for the first 

 and only time in my life. Such songs are heard only a 

 few times in one's experience, and they represent the acme 

 of the musical ability of the individual furnishing the de- 

 lightful strains. The best music of the shrike has a cer- 

 tain sweetness, and is suggestive of the notes of a flute, 

 yet the element of harshness displeases the ear of the 

 sensitive listener. 



In this locality the shrikes begin nest building about 

 the first of April. G-enerally the foliage of the hedgerow 

 has not developed before the completion of the structures, 

 and the bulky objects can be easily seen from a distance. 

 Stout thorny crotches in the main axis of the hedgerow, 

 from five to eight feet from the ground, are the usual sites 

 of the nests. Honey locusts, wild crab apple, plum, and 

 other thorny and dwarf trees furnish it strong positions 

 for constructing its castle. The nest is placed in a frame- 

 work of coarse, thorny twigs, and is formed of soft vege- 

 table bark, dried leaves and grass, wool, feathers, and 



