162 NORTHERN SHRIKE, 
of the woodbine, sour gum, and others being taken in 
turn. 
In August the Waxwing shows no mean gifts as a 
flycatcher, while as a destroyer of the cankerworm he is 
especially beneficial, repaying us with interest for the 
fruit he may have appropriated earlier in the season. 
The Waxwing’s wide range and ability to withstand 
great extremes in temperature are doubtless due to the 
ease with which it adapts itself to a change in fare. It 
- nests from Virginia to Labrador, and winters from Massa- 
chusetts to Costa Rica. 
SHRIKES. (FAMILY LANIID2.) 
The marked difference in the temperament of birds is 
emphasized by finding among the song birds, who feed 
Northern Shrike, °0 fruit, seeds, and insects, a bird who 
Lanius borealis. in his position and choice of food is 
Plate LVUI. truly hawklike. Shrikes are solitary, 
never assembling in flocks or associating with other birds. 
Their days are days of waiting, varied by a pounce upon — 
some unfortunate field mouse or dash into a flock of un- 
suspecting Sparrows. But, while they resemble the Hawks 
in these respects, their manner of capturing their prey dif- 
fers from that of their larger prototypes. The Shrike 
has a Hawk’s bill but a Sparrow’s foot, and, lacking the 
powerful talons which make so deadly a weapon, he cap- 
tures his prey with his strong mandibles. Possibly it may 
be due to his comparatively weak feet that he pursues the 
singular custom of impaling his prey on some thorn or 
hanging it from a crotch where he can better dissect it. 
The Shrike, or Butcher-bird, as he is also called, be- 
longs to a large family, but, with the exception of his 
smaller cousin the Loggerhead, he is the only one of the 
two hundred known species found in America. He nests 
