156 BIRDS AND BIRDS. 



hawk, but chirruped and called and flew about in a 

 half-wondering, half-bewildered manner. As they 

 flew farther along the line of trees the shrike fol- 

 lowed them as if bent on further captures. I then 

 made my way around to see what the shrike had 

 caught and what he had done with his prey. As I 

 approached the bushes I saw the shrike hastening 

 back. I read his intentions at once. Seeing my 

 movements, he had returned for his game. But I 

 was too quick for him, and he got up out of the 

 brush and flew away from the locality. On some 

 twigs in the thickest part of the bushes I found his 

 victim a goldfinch. It was not impaled upon a 

 thorn, but was carefully disposed upon some hori- 

 zontal twigs laid upon the shelf, so to speak. It 

 was as warm as in life and its plumage was unruffled. 

 On examining it I found a large bruise or break in 

 the skin, on the back of the neck at the base of the 

 skull. Here the bandit had no doubt griped the bird 

 with his strong beak. The shrike's bloodthirstiness 

 was seen in the fact that it did not stop to devour its 

 prey but went in quest of more, as if opening a mar- 

 ket of goldfinches. The thicket was his shambles, 

 and if not interrupted he might have had a fine dis- 

 play of tidbits in a short time. 



The shrike is called a butcher from his habit of 

 sticking his meat upon hooks and points ; further 

 than that he is a butcher because he devours but a 

 trifle of what he slays. 



A few days before, I had witnessed another little 



