THE BUTCHER BIRD 281 



this way. "We did not care about the apples as there 

 were plenty of them, but I did care about this cruelty. I 

 made it my business to release every poor creature I found 

 impaled in this way, and either to turn it loose or, if it 

 appeared too badly hurt, to end its suffering by killing it. 

 I became so indignant that I finally appointed myself a 

 committee of one to discover the culprits, and one day dis- 

 covered them. To my utter surprize these birds were 

 guilty. The situation was this : it had been a cold spring, 

 and grasshoppers and other food were scarce. Ordinarily 

 these birds could catch an abundance of food whenever 

 they desired, but this year it was different. It often took 

 a long time to find food, but early in the morning when 

 the grasshoppers were cold and stiff they could be caught 

 easily. These birds would not eat decayed or tainted meat 

 of any kind if they could help it, and they did not know 

 how to build coops or pens. Clearly this was the only 

 way they knew to keep a supply of live, fresh meat always 

 on hand. As the summer wore on the insects became 

 abundant, I found no more poor creatures stuck on the 

 thorns and barbed wire. 



When I made these discoveries, I renewed my efforts 

 to find out what birds these were. Finally some one in 

 the neighborhood said they were called "butcher birds" 

 because of the cruel way they had of sticking mice, small 

 birds, etc., on thorns merely for the fun of watching them 

 die. Since then, I have learned that this bird's true name 

 is the migrant shrike; and that there is a large family 

 of shrikes all looking much alike and having practically 

 the same habits. In regions where this bird is abundant, 

 it is common to find small creatures impaled on thorns and 

 barbed wire. I am aware that many who are very familiar 



