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Bird - Lore 



whitish below, but the Butcher Bird has the under parts generally barred 

 with black and the lores grayish. 



External Structure. — A strongly hooked, hawklike bill is the chief char- 

 acteristic of the true Shrikes and is clearly related to their raptorial habits. 

 The feet, however, are more passerine in form and evidently lack sufficient 



NORTHERN SHRIKE. Family Laniidte 

 One-third natural size 



strength to enable the bird to hold its prey while it is being dissected. 

 Hence the habit of impaling. See Bird-Lore II, 195, where, in de- 

 scribing the actions of a captive Northern Shrike, Mrs. Webster clearly 

 shows that the bird requires some object on which to impale its food 

 before devouring it. 



Appearance and Habits. — Shrikes are solitary and never abundant, but are 

 easily observed because of their habit of taking a conspicuous perch. The 

 flight is direct and generally concluded by an abrupt upward swing as the 

 bird takes its perch. Their prey is generally captured by a flight straight 

 from the perch and is sometimes impaled on a thorn, sharp twig or barbed 

 wire, or hung in a crotch. 



Song. — The Butcher Bird has a decidedly sweet, varied song of not great 

 volume; the Loggerhead is an equally ambitious but less successful vocalist. 



