34 THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA 



SOME PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE 

 HABITS OF THE BUTCHER SHRIKE 



C. W. Shannon, 1916. 



The shrikes are commonly known as "Butchers Birds." They 

 live upon animal food, small birds, small mammals, and insects 

 being their chief subsistance. Their life is one of continual war- 

 fare. 



The bill of the shrike is that of a rapacious bird, but their 

 feet are weak and they cannot hold their prey. For this reason 

 they usually resort to thorn trees, where their victims are impaled 

 upon thorns, sometimes making quite an array of small birds, beetles, 

 and other food, reminding one of a butcher's rack filled with meats. 



The White-rumped Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus excubitorides) 

 is very common in this section of the country. It is very interest- 

 ing to note the habits of this bird in capturing its food and stormg 

 it away. Its movements are very sure to attract attenion. 



One day as I was walking across a prairie pasture a shrike 

 darted past me, and I thought in its carelessness struck a barbed 

 Vv'ire fence in front of me. The bird struck the fence while fly- 

 ing in a straight line, then circled around and darted away. I 

 was only a few steps from the fence, and when I came up to it, 

 I found a large live grasshopper impaled on a barb of the wire. 

 The bird had fixed its prey there as it struck the fence. 



On October 24, 1916, about 12 miles south of Durant, I saw a 

 shrike carrying a cow blackbird. It flew low and passing over the 

 road stopped 'in an apple tree nearby. The weight of the black- 

 bird seemed to be almost the limit of burden for the shrike. 



I have on another occasion formd a field mouse impaled on 

 the thorn of a honey locust, and in the same tree an English 

 close growing limb. There was no proof that the shrike Vv^as the 

 sparrow was tightly wedged between the body of the tree and a 

 doer of the deed, but I judged him guilty nevertheless. 



THE APPARENT DEGENERATE AS A STUDY FOR 

 PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSIDERATION 



A. M. McCullough, 1917. 

 (Abstract) 



The writer suggests the following outline for description of 

 abnormal individuals. 



1. Haljits. 2. Tastes. 3. Likings — dislikes. 4. Abilities. 5. 



