DG Sketches of Some Common Birds. 



similar materials, well interwoven. The cavity averages 

 three and three-fourth inches in diameter, and two and 

 one-fourth inches deep, and is rendered cozy by the soft 

 feathers used for lining. The eggs in a complement vary 

 from five to seven, and are dull grayish white, spotted and 

 marked irregularly with reddish brown and lilac. They 

 measure .90 to 1.00 inch in length, by .70 to .82 in width. 

 In many instances two broods are reared in a season in 

 this locality. 



The beautiful domestic relations of the shrike present a 

 marked contrast to the cruel, heartless disposition he 

 evinces beyond his home circle. If he is a plundering 

 baron among his fellows, he is a devoted, loving knight in 

 his attentions to his lady. In the erection of the castle 

 residence, custom prescribes that the bulk of the work 

 shall fall to the part of the female. Like a true knight, 

 however, he lingers in the immediate vicinity of the site; 

 and when she flies to the spot with a mouthful of weed- 

 bark, feathers, or other materials, he flies to the nest also, 

 and encourages her with many a loving "quaa." While 

 she is incubating, he is equally faithful in supplying her 

 wants. He can generally be seen perched on a telegraph 

 wire, if the hedge containing his home borders the rail- 

 road ; otherwise, he has a convenient perch near the nest. 

 When he espies a grasshopper or a mouse, he flies down 

 and captures it, returning to his station for a moment to 

 survey the neighborhood. If he find the coast clear, 

 he flies immediately to the nest, and proff'ers his love- 

 offering to the female, both birds uttering a plaintive cry, 

 accompanied by the syllable previously mentioned, ut- 

 tered now in a more affectionate tone. Frequently the 

 fiemale leaves the nest to meet him on a near perch, and 

 an affectionate scene ensues — a rubbing of noses and a 

 long "quaa" conversation. 



Once, when I stood in a road and watched a male flying 

 with food toward a nest near me, he turned his course and 

 flew along the hedge, away from the nest, for twenty rods 

 at least; then, apparently concluding that I was not to be 

 misled — perhaps remembering that I had been a frequent 

 visitor to the nest, and meant no harm to his openly- 

 constructed home — he abruptly wheeled about and came 



