126 A-BIRDING ON A BRONCO. 



bent on having, so took the bit in his teeth and 

 made such an obstinate fight that, before I had 

 conquered him, the shrikes had left the premises 

 and my call was finished without my hosts. 



On my next visit Canello behaved in more 

 seemly manner, and permitted me to see some- 

 thing of the ways of the maligned birds. You 

 would not have known them from any one else 

 except for the remarkable stillness of their neigh- 

 borhood. Some finches flew overhead as if mean- 

 ing to stop, but saw the shrike and went on. I 

 could hear the merry songs of the assembly down 

 in the sycamores, but not a bird lit while we 

 were there — the shrikes certainly have a bad 

 name among their neighbors. They had a proud 

 bearing and an imperative manner, but seemed so 

 gentle and human in their domestic life that my 

 prejudices were softened, as one's generally are by 

 near acquaintance, and I became really very fond 

 of my handsome tenants. 



It looked as if the shrike fed his mate. At 

 any rate, they worked together and rested to- 

 gether, perching in lordly fashion high on the 

 willows overlooking their home. They did not 

 object to observers when at work. One day, when 

 Canello's nose appeared by the nest, the builder 

 looked at him over her shoulder and then quietly 

 slid off the nest, flying up on her perch to wait 

 till he should leave. It was a temptation to keep 

 her waiting some time, for the shrike's corner was 



