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Bird Studies. 



victim, which is speedily killed and generally quickly eaten. But this Shrike, 

 be it with an eye to a future meal, or because surfeited and having, like more 

 civilized sportsmen, the destructive instinct so strong as to be unable to fore- 



LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE. ADULT. 



go an opportunity to slay, often seems to kill for killing's sake. Then his 

 victim is not eaten, but is impaled on some sharp thorn or splinter, near the 

 place of capture. 



The Loggerhead Shrike is about nine inches long ; a stoutly built bird 

 with a large head and a heavy hooked bill with a noticeable tooth on either 

 side. 



The upper parts are gray and the wings and tail black. The bases of 

 the larger wing feathers and the tips of the smaller ones are white. The tail 

 feathers are generally tipped with white, and the outer one is almost white. 

 The region in front of the eye and narrowly across the forehead is black, as 

 is the region about the ears. 



The lower parts are generally white, but not unfrequently grayish and 

 sometimes are obscurely and finely barred with dusky. Immature birds have 

 more pronounced barring below, and obscure barring above, and are suffused 

 with brownish. 



The birds build a substantial nest of twigs and strips of bark and other 

 plant fibres, lined with finer material. These are generally placed in thorny 

 bushes or trees, rather low down. An orange tree in the South or a locust 

 in the' North is frequently chosen. From three to five dull white eggs, 

 thickly marked and spotted, with varying shades of brown, are laid. They 



