PAPERS ON ZOOLOGY 183 
bird he would fight bravely and put to flight the biggest eagle, 
hawk or crow that came within his territory or menaced his 
baby birds that he was conducting about the fences and hedges, 
and so the merry war went on. 
Finally it was decided that he did not properly belong any 
of these families and it was decided to give him a place to him- 
self, the Larridae and a cousinship to the Vireos and Waxwings 
and there he will stay. 
There are seven species of this bird in North America, over 
100 in the world, two only to be found in Illinois and central 
states; these are the Winter or Northern Shrike and the Sum- 
mer or Migrant Shrike, 
These two species look very much alike except that the 
winter one is a little larger and with less black on back and 
wings. They are about as large as the Robin Redbreast. They 
are never very numerous, but in a winter drive of eight or ten 
miles, I often see one perched on a telephone wire facing the 
north and apparently oblivious of the coldest weather. 
They sometimes come into the towns in pursuit of the House- 
sparrow, which, when they capture, they scalp, tear the skull 
open, feed on the brains and then hang the body up on a thorn 
or by the head in the forks of a limb. 
If their killing propensities were confined to this sparrow 
alone, we might wish their shadows would never grow less. It 
has been thought the impaling process of birds, mice, grasshop- 
pers, etc., is done for the purpose of afterwards coming back 
for another feast, but repeated observations have never shown 
them doing this. It is a cruel, strange trait that is inexplain- 
able. 
The shrike is an early nester, often in early March. The 
winter variety leaves early for the far north, and its place is 
taken by the summer species which nests with us. No attempt 
is made for concealment. A lone osage, orange or crab-apple 
tree by the side of the road where every passerby can see it, is a 
favorite location. 
The nest on the outside is a rough looking affair, composed 
of many sticks and thorns, but lined with fine grasses and the 
“ey aS a, oS 
