THE SHRIKE FAMILY 61 
hosts of troublesome insects and small animals 
he eats. 
The conclusion of the Agricultural Depart- 
ment as to the food of shrikes all over the coun- 
try is that it consists mainly of grasshoppers, and 
that the good they do is much greater than the 
harm, and therefore they should be protected. 
Mr. Keyser once saw a shrike catch a meadow 
mouse, and carry it up into a tree. First he 
killed it, and then tried to wedge it into a crotch 
so that he could eat it. But finally he found 
the sharp end of a broken snag, on which he 
fastened it. 
There is no doubt that the shrike impales his 
prey so that he can pull it to pieces to eat, for 
his feet are too small to hold it. I have seen a 
shrike throw a dead meadow mouse over a fence 
wire that had sagged to the ground, in order to 
get bits off to eat. 
A lady in New Hampshire who had a captive 
shrike tells in “ Bird-Lore” that he was unable 
to eat a piece of meat until he could find a place to 
fasten it. He hopped around the room, looking 
for something, till she guessed what he wanted. 
Then she brought a kitchen fork with two tines. 
The moment he saw it he ran to her, hopped up 
on her hand, jerked his meat over the tines, and 
at once began to eat. 
