NOTES BY THE WAY 165 



attempt to explore when the owner, with his dag- 

 ger-like beak, was about ; and the crow cannot alight 

 upon the slender, swaying branch from which it is 

 usually pendent. Hence the orioles are doubtless 

 greatly on the increase. 



There has been an unusual number of shrikes the 

 past fall and winter; like the hawks, they follow 

 in the wake of the little birds and prey upon them. 

 Some seasons pass and I never see a shrike. This 

 year I have seen at least a dozen while passing along 

 the road. One day I saw one carrying its prey in 

 its feet, — a performance which I supposed it incapa- 

 ble of, as it is not equipped for this business like 

 a rapacious bird, but has feet like a robin. One 

 wintry evening, near sunset, I saw one alight on 

 the top of a tree by the roadside, with some small 

 object in its beak. I paused to observe it. Pres- 

 ently it flew down into a scrabby old apple-tree, 

 and attempted to impale the object upon a thorn or 

 twig. It was occupied in this way some moments, 

 no twig or knob proving quite satisfactory. A little 

 screech owl was evidently watching the proceedings 

 from his doorway in the trunk of a decayed apple- 

 tree ten or a dozen rods distant. Twilight was just 

 falling, and the owl had come up from his snug 

 retreat in the hollow trunk, and was waiting for the 

 darkness to deepen before venturing forth. I was 

 first advised of his presence by seeing him approach- 

 ing swiftly on silent, level wing. The shrike did 

 not see him till the owl was almost within the 

 branches. He then dropped his game, which proved 



