60 A THORN-TREE NEST. 



see what beetle or bird he had laid up, when be- 

 hold, the barbs were as empty as the thorns. In 

 fact, I was never able to find the smallest evi- 

 dence that the bird ever does impale anything, 

 and the St. Albans ornithologist spoken of adds 

 as his testimony that he has often examined the 

 haunts of this bird, but has never found any- 

 thing impaled. And a correspondent in Ver- 

 mont writes me that he watched the shrike for 

 twenty years, on purpose to see this perform- 

 ance, and in all that time saw but three in- 

 stances, one being a field mouse, and the other 

 two English sparrows. 



All this, of course, does not prove that the 

 shrike never impales his prey, but it does prove 

 that he does not spend all his time at the 

 work; and while I have no doubt he has the 

 habit, I believe the accounts of it are very much 



On the morning of the Fourth of July, a cool, 

 and in that remote part of the world a delight- 

 fully quiet day, I felt an unaccountable disincli- 

 nation to make my usual visit to the shrikes. 

 Refusing, however, to yield to that feeling, I 

 forced myself to take the long walk, and seat 

 myself in my usual place. But I could not feel 

 much surprise when, after more than an hour's 

 close watching, the birds failed to appear, and I 

 became convinced that they were gone. Whether 



