BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 361 



and tail black, former with a wtiite patch at base of primaries 

 and tips of small quills, the lateral feathers of which are 

 tipped with white; bill blackish-brown, considerably lighter at 

 the base; black stripe from the bill through and behind the 

 eye, beneath the latter interrupted by a whitish-crescent. 



Length, 9.85; wing, 4.50; tail, 4.80; its graduation, 0.90. 



Habitat, northern North America. 



LANirS LUDOVICIANIIS EXCUBITOKIDES (Swainson). 



(622a.) 



WHITE-RUMPED SHRIKE. 



The White-Rumped Shrike is a very common summer resi- 

 dent of the State, reaching this latitude about the 1st of April. 

 It is occasionally seen still earlier when the season opens early 

 enough to afford it the proper food. Mr. Washburn found it 

 at Otter Tail lake "common late in October," and said by the 

 people living in the vicinity, to remain all winter. While this 

 may be to an exceptional extent true, for it is certainly so in 

 respect to a number of species, I am confident it cannot be so 

 as a rule with the White-Rumped Shrike. Prof. Herrick 

 found it abundant for its species, as late as October 18th, at 

 Lake Shatek. I am inclined to think that considerable num- 

 bers spend the winter in southern Iowa and northern Missouri. 

 Wherever trees have been planted along the highways of the 

 prairies that have formed top enough to conceal the nest, the 

 observer may count safely upon finding it. 



In sections where there is timber enough to give this bird 

 its choice, the nest will usually be found in a rather small tree 

 standing a little way into a pasture field, if not in the one that 

 is the sole representative of the field. I have never met either 

 bird or nest in the forest proper. It is constructed of sticks 

 interlaced with shreds of bark, coarse weeds, fibers of wood, 

 roots, grass, strings, wool and a fair supply of feathers. It is 

 a rude, bulky structure, but, well lined with feathers, serves 

 its purpose perfectly in bringing out the early brood, for 

 which five or six eggs are laid about the 25th of April. They 

 are of a dull, white color, spotted with varying shades of 

 brown. Two broods are reared. Their principal food consists 

 of beetles, but includes also various insects, and not infre 

 quently mice and small birds. Not specially attractive in re- 

 pose, it will instantly arrest the observer's attention when it 

 flies, for then are revealed the remarkable contrasts of its 

 blueish ash, black and white colors, in a manner entirely its 



