356 THE WHITE-RUMPED SHRIKE. 
bird moves either by successive plunges and noisy reascensions, or else pitches 
downward from his perch and wings rapidly over the surface of the vegetation. 
The Sage Shrikes are prolific and attentive breeders. The first brood is 
brought off about the rst of May, but fresh eggs may sometimes be found 
as early as the last week in March in the southern part of the State. A 
second brood may be expected from June Ist to 15th. 
The nest is a bulky 
but usually well-built 
affair, placed habitually 
in a sage bush, or a 
greasewood clump, with 
wild clematis for third 
choice. The structure is 
designed for warmth 
and comfort, so that, 
whenever possible, to 
the thickened walls of 
plant fibers, cowhair, or 
sheep’s wool, is added an 
inner lining of feathers, 
and these not  infre- 
quently curl over the 
edge so as completely to 
conceal the nest contents. 
One nest examined in 
Walla Walla County 
contained the following 
materials: Willow twigs, 
broom-sage twigs, sage 
bark, weed stems, dried 
yarrow. leaves, dried 
sage leaves, hemp, wool, 
rabbit fur, horse-hair, 
Taken in Douglas County. Photo by the Author. cow-hair, chicken feath- 
NEST AND EGGS OF WHITE-RUMPED SHRIKE. ers, string, rags, and 
sand, besides a thick mat 
of finely comminuted scales, soft and shiny, the accumulated horny waste 
from the growing wing-quills of the crowded young—altogether a sad mess. 
The parent birds are singularly indifferent as a rule to the welfare of a 
nest containing eggs alone. The female sits close, but once flushed, stands 
clinking in the distance, or else absents herself entirely. When the young are 
hatched, however, the old birds are capable of a spirited and deafening defense. 
