When the North Wind Blows 



403 



mice and Sparrows for two weeks. In every case he perched at one side of the 

 food instead of directly upon it. When he secured a piece too large to swallow, 

 instead of holding it beneath his foot, as might be expected, he flew to a nearby 

 pear tree and wedged it in a narrow fork so that he could get sufficient leverage 

 to pull it to bits. It occurred to me 

 that this might be the origin, if not the 

 immediate cause, of the habit shared 

 by his relatives, of impaling food upon 

 thorns, that is ordinarily spoken of as 

 'storing.' We, therefore, brought in a 

 small thorn tree and impaled a mouse 

 upon one of its thorns, thinking it might 

 serve by auto-suggestion to inspire him 

 to do the same. He relished the mouse 

 but seemed rather clumsy in the bush, 

 as though he did not care for thorns, 

 and even when opportunity offered, he 

 did not take advantage of them but flew 

 to the pear tree and wedged his food in 

 the narrow forks according to his cus- 

 tom. The southern Migrant Shrikes 

 and Loggerheads, however, are more 

 partial to thorn trees and may have 

 learned to use the thorns as more con- 

 venient than the forks. 



The Shrike finally made regular visits 

 to our meat-market and did not mind 

 the appearance of an umbrella blind, 

 nor even the rattle of a motion-picture 

 camera. Thanks to his fearlessness, we 

 now have a permanent record in motion- 

 pictures of just how the Shrike eats, as 

 well as a partial record of just how he 

 catches a Sparrow, by making a head- 

 long dash at it, relying upon the surprise 

 of his onrush to put the victim at a disadvantage. If he misses his prey in the 

 first rush, he seems to realize that he has lost his best chance and does not carry 

 the pursuit further. On one occasion he made a dash at some Sparrows in a 

 wire trap and, when unsuccessful, he did not persist and try to get at them 

 through the bars, as a Sparrow Hawk would have done, but immediately flew 

 back to his perch and waited for the excitement to die down. 



It was interesting to see the reactions of the different birds to his presence. 

 The House Sparrows all rushed for the hedge and hopped about in its thick 



THE SHRIKE IN THE ACT OF EATING 

 There was not room on the post to perch 

 beside the food, and in order to tear off bits, it 

 had to hover like a Hummingbird or perch 

 like a Woodpecker, as here shown. 



