162 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 
on the rump. Below, white, very finely waved with black (often 
almost imperceptibly). Edging of crown, eye-ring and mid- 
dle of the forehead, white. Rest of forehead, continuously 
with broad stripes through the eye, black. Wings and tail 
black, with white markings. 
Fig. 7. Butcher-bird (4). 
(b). The nest is placed in the woods, in the fork of a bush, 
not far from the ground. It is composed of leaves, grasses, 
and roots, is often lined with feathers, and is finished early in 
the season. One set of eggs contains from four to six, aver- 
aging 1:10X:°80 of an inch. A specimen before me is blotched 
and spotted, most thickly about the crown, with faint lilac, and 
light sandy and yellowish brown; others are darker. 
(c). The shrikes possess the cruelty of the hawks, but not 
the stateliness of some, nor the gracefulness of others. Neither 
do they possess the charms of many passerine birds, for they 
are wild, and, moreover, incapable of uttering musical sounds. 
Yet, there is attached to them that interest, which is naturally 
attached to birds who differ so distinctly from others, and 
about whom much is yet to be learned. 
The Great Northern Shrikes, or the well-known ‘‘ Butcher- 
birds,” are virtually the sole representatives of their family in 
New England. They breed in the forests of Northern Maine, 
but in other parts occur principally as winter-visitants, re- 
