SHRIKES. 



325 



iLi,: 



Family Laniid^. Shrikes. 



The Shrikes, numlioring nlxiiit two hundred species, ftre largely 

 confined to the Old World. Only two species tire found in America, 

 both members of the subfamily /muHiup or true Shrikes. Their char- 

 acteristic habits are described under their respective names. 



68 1« I4tinhl8 boreaJla I'in'll. Noktmkrv Suicikk; BrTciiKic-iiiKn. 



Ad. — L'liper parts >.'ray ; wind's ntnl tail l)lat'k ; primaries white at the base, 

 Bec'oiularies tijiped with white or jrrayish ; (niter, sometimes all, the tail- 

 feathers tipped with white, the outer feather mostly wliitc ; forehead whltiKh ; 

 lores (jrnyUh blaek ; ear-ooverts hlaek ; under parts wiiite, f^eticrally finely 

 barred with blaek; bill hooked and hawklike. ////.— .Similar, but entire 

 plumage more or less heavily barred or washed with jrrayish brown. L., 

 10-32; W., 4-r)r); T., 400; B. from N., -55. 



Kangc. — Breeds in the interior in the far north (Fort .Anderson, MaeFar- 

 lane), and miirrates southward in winter as far as Kansas and Virtrinia. 



Wasliinirton, rare and irrejrular W. V., Nov. to Feb. Sin>r Sin>,', tolerably 

 common W. V., Oct. 2t; to Apl. 17. 'L'and)ridf,'e, eoMTiion W. V., Nov. 1 to 

 Apl. 1. 



Next., of twifTs. jrrasses, etc., in low trees or bushes. ZV/*/*, similar iu color 

 to those of L. fudoflciantis, TO') x -Tti. 



This bird may be known at once by his colors — gray, black, and 

 white — by the consternation his appearaiu-e causes among the Spar- 

 rows, and by his peculiar flight, which is steady and straightforward, 

 with much flapping, and close to the ground till he nears his in- 

 tended perch, which is reached at the last moment by a sudden ui)- 

 ward turn. 



lie is so well known as a bird of hawklike, sanguinary character 

 that most students are astonished when they find out that toward 

 springtime he develops into a vocalist of no mean powers. Often in 

 the warm days of March he niay be heard singing on the top of some 

 tail tree, a song that would do credit to a Catbird — indeed, it recalls 

 strongly that locjuacious songster. lie is, I think, a better singer than 

 his southern cousin, but resembles him in habitiuilly impaling his 

 prey on a thorn, a fence barb, or a forked twig. His food consists 

 chiefly of mice, noxious insects, and the eipially noxious English Spar- 

 row, so that the Shrike is a bird worthy of all protection. 



Krnkst E. Thompson. 



628. I«anius ludovicianus Linn. Locokkhkad Sukirk. (Sec 

 Fig. 51.) Ati. — Upper parts gray, wings and tail bUick, primaries white at 

 the base, secondaries tippi'd with white ; outer, sometimes all, the tail- 

 feuthers tipped with white; the outer feather mostly white; lores black, 

 connected by a luirrow hlurk line on the foreiiead at the base of the bill ; 

 ear-covert«! bluek ; umler parts white, sometimes tinged with gray. L,, 900 ; 



