SHRIKES, WAXWINGS, SWALLOWS. AND TANAGERS. 123 



On this account it has been recommended that they be pro- 

 tected by law. Shrikes also feed upon shrews and mice and 

 many kinds of insects, including' grasshoppers, caterpillars, 

 crane-flies, and ground, tiger, carrion, and leaf beetles. Dr. 

 S. D. Judd, who has made a careful study of the food of this 

 species, writes : "The present investigation shows that bene- 

 ficial birds form less than one-fourth of the food of the butcher- 

 bird. It also shows that, in addition to being an enemy of 



THE GREAT NORTHERN SHRIKE. 



mice, it is a potent check on the English sparrow and on 

 several insect pests. One-fourth of its food consists of mice ; 

 another fourth, grasshoppers ; a third fourth consists of na- 

 tive sparrows and predaceous beetles and spiders, while the 

 remainder is made up of English sparrows and species of 

 insects most of which are noxious." 1 The young are fed 

 very largely with grasshoppers, though mice and birds are 

 sometimes given them. 



The Loggerhead Shrike is a smaller bird than the last. In 

 some of its racial forms it is found very generally throughout 



1 Div. Biol. Surv., U. S. Dept. Agr., 1898, Bull. No. 9. p. 20. 



