144 WESTERN SERIES OF READERS. 



that there may be a famine, and they would do 

 well to save something. It is a good idea. 



Butcher-birds have been seen to catch gophers, 

 and they are very partial to those great Jerusalem 

 crickets which eat holes in the farmers' pota- 

 toes. Most farmers are on friendly terms with 

 "Butchy." They have an idea that the bird eats 

 more or less linnets, and the average farmer can 

 endure the company of almost anything that 

 makes war on the linnets. The linnets could tell 

 him that not three times in a season does Butchy 

 molest a linnet. Butchy prefers a lizard any day. 

 And it is his greatest delight to chase butterflies. 

 Farmer sees Butchy darting across the garden! 

 The linnets fly to cover, and farmer chuckles. 

 Butchy wasn't after the birds at all, but that 

 great red-and-black butterfly the farmer did not 

 see. 



When once any creature is picked up by the 

 butcher-bird, it is of no use for it to squirm. 

 Butchy is provided with a pretty good set of teeth 

 for a bird. The tip of the beak is notched. 

 These notches are called "teeth." They hold on 

 to a gopher, or a lizard, or a beetle with a tight 

 grip. However, should the butcher seize a lizard 

 by the tip of its tail, the bird would have tail, and 

 nothing <else a for its breakfast, as its cousin the 



