Loggerhead Shrike. 97 



directly to the nest. If the female is tired of brooding her 

 eggs, and desires to stretch her wings in a refreshing ex- 

 cursion afield, she meets her devoted mate on a con- 

 venient perch near the nest, and after receiving his 

 affectionate greeting, she flies to the accustomed stand on 

 the wire or elsewhere. He settles himself in the feathery 

 circle of his home, while she starts out over the adjoining 

 meadow or corn-field to forage for herself. 



When the safety of the nest is threatened, the male is 

 prompt to respond to the harsh call of his spouse. How- 

 ever, she is not easily displaced from her charge, and 

 when she is disturbed, she perches near the nest, after 

 leaving it sullenly and deliberately; then she gradually 

 draws nearer, and even threatens to attack the disturber. 

 All the while she utters the harsh syllable represented by 

 the combination "quaa." Soon her faithful knight is at 

 her side, and both birds are kept away from the disturber 

 of their home only by the repellent demonstrations of the 

 enemy, whom they regard with fierce eyes and ruflfled 

 plumage. Their dogged, deliberate courage in thus de- 

 fending their premises is only another manifestation of 

 their stolid Spartan character, and presents a marked con- 

 trast to the excited fluttering and feigned attacks of more 

 helpless birds when their homes are threatened. 



Concerning the food habits of the shrike, there is un- 

 certainty as to which side of the account the balance be- 

 longs to. Field mice, moles, and grasshoppers form a 

 large per cent, of its yearly bill of fare, and this fact en- 

 titles it to favorable consideration. It is said to pick up 

 young rabbits in season, thus ridding the horticulturist of 

 troublesome pests later in the year. On the other hand, 

 it destroys smaller species of birds and reptiles, which are 

 themselves greatly beneficial. Its rapacity and cruelty 

 are attested by numerous witnesses. A wnuter, signing 

 himself "J. D.F.," in Oologist for October, 1888, says that 

 the shrike is a particular enemy of the yellow-throated 

 warbler, and that he has often seen it, though not without 

 battle with the old birds, tear down the tuft of moss in 

 which tlje nest is always suspended, and devour the con- 

 tents. He adds that in like manner it destroys the nest 

 of the brown-headed nuthatch, by pulling down tlie dead 



