LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE. 



622. Lanius ludovicianus. 9 inches. 

 Pure white below and with the markings above, in- 

 tense black instead of the brownish or grayish black 

 of the last species. Although smaller, these Shrikes 

 have the same destructive habits of the northern species. 

 All the Shrikes do considerable good to mankind, for 

 they eat quantities of grasshoppers and mice, and prob- 

 ably resort to their diet of small birds when other 

 food is unusually scarce. It cannot be denied that 

 they are cruel, for they often kill more than they can 

 eat and leave it impaled on thorns to decay. 



Song 1 . Of harsh, discordant whistles. 



Nest. In scrubby hedges and thickets : of twigs, 

 weeds, leaves, etc.; eggs four to seven in number, gray- 

 ish white, spotted with shades of brown and gray. 



Range. Eastern U. S., breeding from the Gulf to 

 southern Xew England and Manitoba ; winters in south- 

 ern states. 



Sub-species. 622a. White-rumped Shrike (excubi- 

 torides), paler and with a white rump; found from the 

 Plains to the Pacific in the U. S. 



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