THE SHRIKE A PUBLIC BENEFACTOR 557 



found to be more compactly built, with a greater quantity of 

 soft, warm material, than those of the Loggerhead in the South- 

 ern States, which are smaller, more open, and rather loosely 

 woven than closely felted. 



In such a bulky and rather rude receptacle, though a very sub- 

 stantial one, no fewer than five or six eggs may be deposited, 

 for a Shrike is as much in earnest in these matters as in the other 

 affairs of life. These vary in size, of course, according to the 

 species, the eggs of the Northern Shrike being about 1.10 by 

 0.80 inches, while those of the White-rumped, or Loggerhead, 

 only measure, on an average, little if any over an inch in length 

 by three-fourths as much in breadth. They are shaped and col- 

 ored exactly alike, however, being of rounded oval form, quite 

 blunt at the smaller end, and so profusely speckled or marbled 

 all over with various brownish, reddish, and purplish shades 

 that the greenish-gray ground-color is scarcely perceptible. 

 Should nothing go amiss, it is not long (Audubon says fifteen 

 days in the case of borealis] before the nest is crowded with a 

 clamorous and voracious brood, whose wants are an incesssant 

 tax upon the energy and devotion of the parent birds. The care 

 of the youngsters would seem to give them all they can attend 

 to, leaving no time for house-cleaning ; for, should you come 

 upon a family of Shrikes, well grown and soon to leave the nest, 

 you would find things in an extremely untidy condition. 



One nestful after another being thus turned loose upon the 

 world, the tribe of Shrikes waxes. Being prolific, and having 

 few enemies besides man, they are common birds in most portions 

 of the country, and we readily perceive that they play an im- 

 portant role in nature's economy. I must confess that I have 

 not drawn altogether the most flattering picture, even though I 

 have given the doughty warriors full credit for their military 

 operations ; and I am therefore the more anxious to show what 

 extremely useful birds they are, from the most practical stand- 

 point possible. So far as the Shrike's relations with ourselves 

 are concerned, the balance is entirely on one side of the ledger. 

 We are enormously in debt to these efficient destroyers of nox- 

 ious insects and injurious quadrupeds. Though they kill many 

 a bird we should wish to live, the whole result in this regard is 

 practically nothing to offset the check they put in the aggregate 

 upon grasshoppers and other undesirable forms of insect life. 



Nay, more, the Shrike is entitled to our special thanks and 

 most favorable consideration, for his interference in our behalf 



