LAXIIDvE-THK SHRIKES. ^^g 



lie 



I). C.,ues found tlus «,„.,.,.« very conunon in tl.o noi,hl.orhood of Colun. 

 bi.i, S. L IrcMiuc.nting tl.o wnn.led st.v.ts and wa.sto fields of tl.at city On 

 one occasion he ohsened a Loggerhead la.sily l.,.a,in, ,W ilX e 

 gro..ds o, t e Capifol. F^on. the to,, of a tall la.h i^ wonl.l IZ^ 

 .My uut, capture a htrge grassho,,., an<l .-any it to u tree near by u J 

 sharp tw,g,s. It wouhl then proceed to in.pale the insect on one of L^ 

 I.oint,s reu.a,n awiule watching the result of its perfonnance. and the 

 sunie Its post on the bush, watching for u.ore grasshoppers, s^n.e of w i h 

 one by one, .t caught and nnpaled in like u.anner, oth.. it iue on U el ^ ' 

 This curious habit of impaling inseC, more or less common to the nt re 

 annly of Shrikes, seems to admit of no satisfactory explanation. I, t 

 case the bird thus secnre.l them when apparently huiig;y, eatin. some d 

 3l;..^thers. .et, so fUr as I know, . never niake^ Ly us^f .l^t 



Mr. Audubon states that in South Carolina it is quite eommon alon. the 

 f nces and hedges about the rice plantations at all seasons, and that t°r 

 ders good service to the planters in the destruction of field-mice, as wel s 

 o^ muiy o, the lai^er n.sects. He speaks of its song as consisti g only o 

 hull, clear, creaking, prolongcl notes, resembling the gratin-.- of a rusty 

 lunge. His account differs, in many respects, from the more n. in te J 

 exact descriptions of Rey. J)r. Uachman. In pursuing its prey e st. 

 that It uivariably strikes it with its bill befbre seizing i^with its daws 



In reference to its song. Dr. Bachman states that it has other notes besides 

 the grating sound mentioned by Audubon, 1 )uri„g the breeding-.season ad 

 nearly all the summer, (he male bird posts itself at the top of some he 

 and makes an e( brt at a song, which he compares to the first attempts of a 

 oung I rown Thrush. This is a Labored efibrt, and at thnes the notes ar 

 not uniileasnig, but very irregular. 



Dr. IJachman also claims tl.at the male evinces marked evidences of attach- 

 ment to Ins mate, carrying to her, every now an.l then, a grasshopper or a 

 cneket, an.l dnving away hawk or crow as they approach the nest 



lie also states that he has usually found the nest on the outer limbs of 

 trees, often from hfteen to thirty feet from the ground, and only once on a 

 bash .so low as ton feet fn.m the ground. He has occasionally seen these 

 •n-ds feeding on mice, and also on bir.ls that had been aj.parently Mounded 

 .y tl.o sportsman. It will sometimes catch young uJL devour t!!em 

 but IS food consists chiefly of grasshoppers, crickets, coleopterous a.ul othe; 

 insects, including butterflies and moths, which it will pursue and capture 

 ; ' tl'o -ng. Dr. IJachman has observed its habit of pinning insects on 

 thoriLS. In one mstan-.e he saw it ocipy it.self for hours in .stickin-r up in 

 this way, small hshes thrown on the shore, but he has never known them to 

 devour anything thus impaled. 



This Shrike is partially migratory in South Carolina, as a few maybe 

 lonnd all winter, but only one tenth of those seen in siunmer. It is also 



