strokes, showing the clear white and 

 black of the wings and tail to fine ad- 

 vantage. The rapid wing motion seems 

 almost to describe contiguous semi- 

 circles of white and black at the sides 

 of the moving bird and contrast finely 

 with its clear, light colors." It may fre- 

 quently be seen perched on some lofty 

 elevation, sitting, as motionless as a 

 statue, watching for its prey. 



The range of the Loggerhead Shrike 

 embraces the eastern part of the United 

 States, westward to the Plains and from 

 the Gulf of Mexico north to the At- 

 lantic coast of New Jersey, and in the 

 interior to the Great Lakes, Ontario, 

 and east along the southern side of 

 the St. Lawrence River to Maine. It 

 winters from Missouri, southern Indiana 

 and southern Illinois southward. It is a 

 summer resident in central and northern 

 Illinois and Indiana, and in the other 

 states of this latitude within its range. 

 In late April egg laying begins and by 

 the fifteenth of May the nest may be 

 filled with fledglings. The nest is usu- 

 ally placed in a low tree or in a bush, 

 preferably a thorn bush, and is made 

 of sticks, coarse grass, weeds, roots, 

 pieces of bark, feathers, thread, wool, 

 and in fact almost any objects which the 

 bird fancies would help in its construc- 

 tion. The nest is not attractive, being 

 large and ragged, the material compos- 

 ing it being loosely and irregularly put 

 together. Four to seven dull white eggs 

 spotted with light brown and lavender 

 are laid, which measure about an inch 

 by three-quarters of an inch. This 

 Shrike is very prolific and is not at all 

 discouraged if the first or even the sec- 



ond nest is destroyed, for instances are 

 known of its having laid three sets of 

 eggs and built three nests before the 

 young were hatched. 



It has been commonly reported that 

 young Shrikes are fed upon song birds, 

 but the investigations of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture do 

 not sustain this report. Of six half- 

 grown young examined three-fourths of 

 their stomach contents was insect food, 

 mostly grasshopper. Parts of a meadow 

 mouse had also been fed to two of the 

 young birds. So far as the stomach 

 records show the Loggerhead Shrike 

 does not feed its young on birds, but 

 on insects, of which beetles, grasshop- 

 pers and bristly caterpillars form the 

 chief supply. 



The Loggerhead Shrike has no song, 

 the male having only a loud call note 

 during the breeding season. The female 

 utters a squeaky alarm note when dis- 

 turbed. 



The Loggerhead Shrike is sometimes 

 called the Butcher Bird, but that' title 

 more correctly belongs to its larger rel- 

 ative, the northern shrike. This latter 

 species inhabits northern North Amer- 

 ica, breeding from Hudson Bay to the 

 Arctic coast. In winter its range ex- 

 tends to Virginia, Kansas, Kentucky, 

 Colorado, Arizona and California. The 

 habits of the two species are similar. 

 The generic name of Lanius, meaning 

 butcher, was given to these birds on 

 account of their habit of impaling their 

 victims on thorns. The butcher bird has 

 been known to commit cannibalism bv 

 eating its own species. 



Collins Thurber. 



THE CALIFORNIA PEPPER TREE, 



To one whose early days have been 

 spent in New England there is always, 

 in the home-scene that memory brings 

 before him, some dream-like vision of 

 trees ; the graceful sweep of elm branch- 



es, or the glory of October maples, or 

 the beauty of the apple-blossoms in 

 May. During his sojourn in California 

 he notices the contrasts and looks for 

 the resemblances between the trees of 



