Shrike. INSESSORES. LANIUS. 149 



ter having killed its prey, it transfixes it upon a thorn, and 

 then tears it in pieces with its bill. This singular process is 

 used with all its food. I had the gratification of witnessing 

 this operation of the Shrike upon a Hedge Accentor (Ac- 

 centor modularis), which it had just killed ; and the skin of 

 which, still attached to the thorn, is now in my possession. 

 In this instance, after killing the bird, it hovered, with the 

 prey in its bill, for a short time over the hedge, apparently 

 occupied in selecting a thorn fit for its purpose. Upon dis- 

 turbing it, and advancing to the spot, I found the Accentor 

 firmly fixed by the tendons of the wing at the selected twig. 

 I have met with the remains of a mouse in the stomach of a 

 Shrike; and Montagu mentions one in which he found a 

 a Shrew (Sorex arenarius). When confined in a cage, this 

 bird still evinces the same propensity for fixing its food, and, 

 if a sharp-pointed stick or thorn is not left for that purpose, 

 it will invariably fasten it to the wires before commencing its 

 repast. The flight of the Shrike is interrupted, being per- 

 formed by jerks, and, when perched, the tail is kept in con- 

 stant motion. Its voice is capable of variation, and it pos- 

 sesses a power of imitating the notes of many of the smaller 

 Passeres ; in which respect it shews an approach to the Mock- 

 ing Thrushes of the family MerulidcE. Wooded and enclosed 

 situations are its favourite haunts. 



It builds in trees and bushes, laying six or seven white i^ ^ ^^ 

 eggs, spotted with yellowish-brown. It is extremely cou- 

 rageous, attacking birds much its superior in size ; and will 

 not allow a Hawk, Crow, or Magpie, to approach its haunts 

 with impunity. Its legs and talons are slender and weak, 

 and are but little used in securing and tearing up its prey, 

 which are effected by the bill, being thick, and furnished 

 with very powerful muscles ; and in this mode of capturing 

 its food it strikingly differs from the rapacious order. 



