514 HISTORY OF THE 



But these prejudices cannot be softened by their good deeds, 

 and the Cherry Bird is still hunted and destroyed." 



In flight they are strong and graceful, and glide with ease 

 through the woodlands as they sweep about in quest of food. 

 They are generally spoken of as birds without a song, and their 

 feeble attempt is hardly worthy to be called one; they do, how- 

 ever, at times, utter low, warbling notes, with tremulous wings, 

 in a manner expressive of love and joy; in sound very similar 

 to their lisping call notes, but much softer. It is evidently not 

 intended for outsiders, for its voice is scarcely audible twenty 

 paces away. 



The birds at all times are social and friendly, and during the 

 breeding season the mated pairs are very attentive to each other; 

 and while they often select a nesting place in an exposed situa- 

 tion, they are, as a rule, so silent and secretive that their presence 

 is rarely known, except to the egg hunters. They nest late in 

 the season, in order that the berries may be ripening at the time 

 of hatching, for their young are reared upon fruits as well as 

 insects; the latter are often captured upon the wing. 



Their nests are built in low trees (apple and cedar the favor- 

 ites), sometimes in bushes; a deep, bulky structure, composed of 

 twigs, steins of weeds, grasses, and coarse fibrous strippings from 

 vines and plants, and is lined sparingly with leaves and fine root- 

 lets. Eggs usually four, . 85x. 60; pale clay white, with an olive 

 or bluish hue and purple shell stains, and thinly spotted with 

 varying shades of brown chiefly blackish, usually aggregating 

 thickest about the larger end; in form, oval to ovate. 



FAMILY LANIID^l. SHRIKES. 



"Bill very powerful, strong, and much compressed; the tip abruptly hooked, 

 deeply notched, and with a prominent tooth behind the notch; both mandibles 

 distinctly notched, the upper with a distinct tooth behind, the lower with the 

 point bent up. Tarsi longer than the middle toe; strongly scutellate. Primaries 

 ten; first primary half the second, or shorter (occasionally wanting). Wings 

 short, rounded; tail long, and much graduated. Sides of the tarsi with the plates 

 divided on the outside. 



"Of this family, only a single genus is known in North America." 



