A WOODLAND TRAGEDY 89 



great discovery, however, is his cruel device of 

 using thorns for his larder ; this ingenious but 

 hateful invention it is which has secured him a 

 place in the struggle for existence. It is curious 

 to note, too, how the habit has reacted on the 

 bird's structure and appearance. He has acquired 

 the quick eye and nervous alertness of a bird of 

 prey, and has even grown like that higher group 

 to some small extent in his beak' and talons. He 

 is a wonderfully plucky little fighter, too, both 

 against his own kind and against other species. 



Have you ever reflected how wonderfully varied 

 and eventful is the life of such a migratory bird 

 as this cruel butcher ? We human beings, who 

 can only travel south in one of the crawling 

 expresses misnamed trains-de-luxe, have little con- 

 ception of the freedom and variety which every 

 mere shrike can claim as its birthright. Let us 

 follow one out briefly through its marvellous life- 

 cycle. 



It is hatched from a creamy -coloured and 

 dappled egg in a nest in England. From four 

 to six brothers or sisters occupy the home, and, 

 indeed, to be strictly accurate, more than fill it. 

 Everybody knows the old conundrum, " Why do 

 birds in their little nests agree ? " with its quaintly 

 sensible answer, " Because, if they didn't, they 

 would fall out." Well, with the butcher-birds, 

 that remark is literally accurate. The nest is a 

 ragged and rickety structure, hardly big enough 

 to hold the young as soon as they are fledged. 

 It is built in the boughs of a thorn bush, and 



