166 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 



(a). 8-9 inches long. Like the Butcher-bird (A), but more 

 slaty above, and generally with no white on the head (except 

 on the throat), the eye-stripes meeting on the forehead. 



(b). The nest is said to be much less elaborate than that of 

 the " Butcher-bird," though the eggs are very similar to those 

 of that bird. Dr. Brewer says : "The spots are usually larger 

 and more scattered than in the eggs of C. borealis." 



(c). The Loggerhead Shrike is chiefly an inhabitant of the 

 Southern States, and I have heard of but few instances of its 

 capture in New England or the State of Massachusetts. It is, 

 however, says Mr. Allen, in his " Notes on the Rarer Birds of 

 Massachusetts," a summer-resident at Hamilton, in Canada 

 West, on the Northern Shore of Lake Ontario (Mcllwraith), 

 and has been known to breed at Buffalo, New York. Wilson 

 says that "this species inhabits the rice plantations of Carolina 

 and Georgia, where it is protected for its usefulness in destroy- 

 ing mice. It sits, for hours together, on the fence, beside the 

 stacks of rice, watching like a cat ; and as soon as it perceives 

 a mouse, darts on it like a Hawk. It also feeds on crickets 

 and grasshoppers." 



(d). He adds that "its note, in March, resembled the clear 

 creaking of a sign board in windy weather." 



15. The FringillidaD, or finches, form our largest fam- 

 ily (the warblers being second in size), and include the spar- 

 rows, buntings, linnets, grosbeaks, and crossbills. They are 

 chiefly granivorous (or at least vegetarians) , and consequently 

 are less migratory than insectivorous birds. They are very 

 sociable among themselves, and in some cases gregarious. 

 They are clad both plainly and brilliantly, sometimes with 

 crests, but are in nearly all cases musical, sometimes very 

 highly so. Some of them are eminently field-birds, and on this 

 account are easily observed in the country. As architects they 

 are not to be ranked high, though their nests are often very 

 neatry built. Their eggs exhibit great variety in colors and 

 markings, and two (or even three) sets of four or five are laid 

 by several species in one season, even so far to the northward 

 as Massachusetts. 



