144 Birds of Lakeside and Prairie 



toward the combatants. They paid no heed to me until I 

 was within twenty feet of the scene of their encounter. Then 

 they flew away. I kept my eyes on the much-ruffled body 

 of the little victim lying on the grass, and walking toward it 

 I stooped over to pick it up. At that instant, as quick as the 

 passing of light, one of the shrikes darted under my hand, 

 seized the quarry, and made off with it. It was an exhibition 

 of boldness that did not fail to win admiration. I did not 

 have the chance to learn what bird it was that had fallen a 

 victim to the shrikes' rapacity and had been the cause of 

 that battle royal. 



The great northern shrike, when it is attempting to cap- 

 ture a mouse, or a small bird that has taken refuge in a bush, 

 hovers over the quarry almost precisely after the manner of 

 the sparrow-hawk. There are few more fascinating sights in 

 nature than that of the bird with its body absolutely motion- 

 less, but with its wings moving with the rapidity of the blades 

 of an electric fan. Sharply outlined against the sky, it fixes 

 the attention and rouses an interest that leaves little room for 

 sympathy with the intended victim that one knows is cower- 

 ing below. A mouse in the open has little chance for escape 

 from the clutches of the hovering shrike. Birds, however, 

 which have wisdom enough to stay in the bush and trust to 

 its shelter rather than to launch out into open flight, are more 

 than apt to escape with their lives. In February last I saw two 

 shrike-pursued English sparrows take to the cover of a vine- 

 covered lilac shrub. They sought a place well near the roots. 

 While flying they had shown every symptom of fear and were 

 making a better pace than I had ever seen one of their tribe 

 make before. The shrike brought itself up sharply in midair 

 directly over the lilac, and there it hovered on light wing and 



