262 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



The great northern shrike, a little larger than the other, breeds farther 

 north, comes here in the fall, and, now that he finds abundance of food in the 

 European sparrow, stays with us all winter. The two kinds resemble each other, 

 only the larger bird is of lighter color on breast and head, but in essential parti- 

 culars they are as one — bold, defiant, reckless, they have little fear in the pre- 

 sence of man. 



Their harsh outcries of seeming exultation are as unmusical as are the 

 creaking of an old windmill or the rusty hinges of a barn door. 



Adubon says : " This violent little warrior possesses the faculty of imitating 

 the notes of other birds, especially such as are indicative of pain. Thus it will 

 mimic the cries of chased sparrows and other small birds, so as to make you 

 believe you hear them screaming in the claws of a hawk ; and I strongly suspect 

 this is done for the purpose of inducing others to come out from their coverts 

 to rescue their suffering brethren." I have seen him in the act of screaming in 

 this manner, when he would suddenly dart from his perch into a thicket from 

 which there would immediately issue the real cries of a bird he had seized. 



The shrike is an impetuous and audacious bird which has few admirers ; 

 yet few enemies besides man, and, being prolific, has now become common in 

 most parts of the country, and, although he kills many a bird we would wish to 

 live, he is entitled to our favorable consideration for the part he is taking in our 

 behalf against the common bird-pest of this country — the European sparrow. 



The shrikes generally build in a bush within arm's reach from the ground, 

 the nest proper resting upon an extensive basement of stout twigs, rather loosely 

 laid together and bristling in all directions. Upon this the inner nest is built of 

 an endless variety of fibrous substances, such as withered grass, strips of bark, 

 tree leaves, mosses, lichens, wool, etc. Sometimes fur and feathers are netted 

 in with the rest of the materials. The number of eggs deposited in this com- 

 pactly constructed receptacle is generally five or six. They are a little over an 

 inch in length and about three-fourths as much in breadth, of a greenish-grey 

 color, profusely speckled all over with brownish and purplish specks. The eggs 

 are of oval form, quite blunt at the smaller end. 



Soon after the young birds leave the nest they may be seen hunting and 

 devouring grasshoppers, butterflies, moths and other large insects. This fact 

 alone has led some to believe that the good which shrikes do in the economy of 

 nature more than counterbalances the evils of their objectionable propensities. 



The most remarkable part of the shrike's physical organization is his beak, 

 the upper mandible of which is hooked like that of the hawk ; hence he has no 

 difficulty in keeping hold of his struggling victim. There is no reticence about 

 this bird ; the whole course of his life runs on in almost incessant warfare— not 

 a very lofty character. 1). Nicou 



