LAXIID.E — THE SHRIKES. 417 



Both Mr. Auduljou and Mr. Nuttall refer to this Shrike's imitating the 

 cries of other birds, apparently to decoy them within its reacli. The former 

 has heard it utter cries like those of the Sparrow screaming in the claws (»f 

 a Hawk, to induce them to come out of their coverts and rescue their suffer- 

 ing fellows, and has seen them dart suddenly into a thicket in pursuit of one, 

 i'rom which would soon issue the real cries of the l)ird it had seized. Nuttall 

 states that in some parts of New England this Shrike is called a Mocking- 

 Bird, on account of its imitations of the notes of smaller birds. Its more 

 usual note resembles the discordant creaking of a signboard hinge. He also 

 states that it has been known to mimic the quacking of ducks, so tliat 

 these would answer to it as to a decoy. He heard one of these birds, as 

 late as November 10, uttering a low and soft warble, resembling that of the 

 Song Sparrow, immediately after changing it to the notes of the Catbird. 



^Yhen in pursuit of small birds, it will dart down with closed wings, in 

 the manner of a Hawk, and seldom fails to obtain the object of its pursuit, 

 following it with rapidity and pertinacity through the thickets in which it 

 seeks shelter. When it seizes its prey, it alights on its back, and tears open 

 its head. 



Its bold audacity and perseverance are quite remarkable, and are often dis- 

 played, in the fall, in the manner in which it will enter an apartment 

 through an open window and attack a Canary, even in the presence of mem- 

 bers of the family. It rarely fails, if it gains access to the cage, to destroy its 

 inmate before the latter can be rescued by the intervention of those present, 

 and only by great promptness in sheltering the cage. In one instance the 

 writer w^as sitting at a closed window reading, with a Canary hanging above 

 him. Suddenly there was a severe blow struck at the pane of glass near 

 the cage, and the frightened Canary uttered ciies of alarm and fell to the 

 l)ottom of its cage. The cause was soon explained. A Shrike had dashed 

 upon the bird, unconscious of the intervening glass, and was stretched upon 

 the snow under the window, stunned by the blow. He revived when taken 

 up, and lived several days, was sullen, but tame, and utterly devoid of fear. 

 He refused raw meat, but eagerly tore in pieces and devoured small birds 

 when given to him. His tameness and indifference to our presence may have 

 been occasioned by stupor arising from his injury. In another case a Shrike 

 made a similar attack, but escaped unharmed, and though he remained about 

 the house several days, was too wary to allow himself to be decoyed within 

 gunshot. 



A nest of the Northern Shrike, containing six eggs, was obtained by 

 E. E. McFarlane, at Anderson Eiver Fort, June 11, 1863. This is in many 

 respects in striking contrast with the nests of its kindred species of the 

 Southern States, far exceeding them in its relative size, in elaborate finish 

 and warmth. It is altogether a remarkable example of what are known as 

 felted nests, where various materials are most elaborately ^A'orked togetlier 

 into a homogeneous and symmetrical whole. It is seven inches in diameter 

 53 



