GREAT SHRIKE. 179 
Tt frequents groves and forests, wooded hedge-rows and parks. 
During migration it may be seen perched upon some hillock, 
or hovering in the air, and descending in pursuit of its prey 
when discovered within reach. 
These birds may be readily tamed, even if captured when 
adult, and will come to a call. When in confinement they 
follow out their natural bent, adapted to the circumstances 
they are in, affixing their prey between the wires of the cage, 
doing so from evident choice, that they may pull it from between 
them, and leaving it there when they do not require it for 
immediate consumption. ‘This bird,’ says Yarrell, ‘is used by 
falconers abroad during autumn and winter when trapping 
Falcons. The Shrike is fastened to the ground, and, by 
screaming loudly, gives notice to the falconer, who is concealed, 
of the approach of a Hawk. It was on this account, therefore 
called ‘excubitor’-—the sentinel.’ Mr. Knapp, however, the 
author of the excellent ‘Journal of a Naturalist,’ says that 
the name was appropriately given to it by Linnzus, from its 
seldom concealing itself in a bush, but sitting perched on 
some upper spray, In an open situation, heedful of danger, or 
watching for its prey. Rennie relates that in Russia it is 
trained to catch small birds, and is valuable for its destruction 
of rats and mice. It is a very courageous bird, attacking 
fearlessly those that are much its superiors in size, even 
the Hagle, it is said, and will not allow a Hawk, Crow, or 
Magpie to approach its nest with impunity. One has been 
taken in the act of pouncing on the decoy bird of a fowler, 
‘who,’ says Bishop Stanley, ‘having kept it awhile in confinement, 
was soon glad to get rid of it, as the sound of its voice at 
once hushed to silence the notes of his choir of birds. Their 
antipathy when at large, is shewn at times by teasing it in 
concert, as they do an Owl, though at other times they 
surround him without any apparent fear.’ Montagu, who kept 
several, found that at the end of two months they lose the 
affection for each other which they seem to exhibit in the 
wild state, and quarrel and fight even till one is slain. 
Civilization it would appear, among birds as among men, has 
its concomitant evils as well as advantages. ‘I was almost 
in despair for many days,’ says some traveller in an uninhabited 
region, ‘but at length to my great joy I espied a gibbet—then 
I knew at once that I was coming to a civilized country.’ 
The flight of this species is interrupted and irregular. When 
perched, the tail is in constant motion. 
