THE LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE. 



{Lanius ludovicianus.) 



In the Loggerhead Shrike nature has 

 produced a curious and puzzHng com- 

 bination of avian characteristics. The 

 bill and head are of the falcon type, 

 the mouth is ornamented with bristles 

 like the flycatchers, the feet are those 

 of the song birds and the food habits 

 are those of the hawk. What wonder 

 is it that ornithologists have been puz- 

 zled to know just where to place these 

 strange creatures in the nomenclature 

 of the birds. 



The name of Butcher Bird is given 

 to the Shrikes on account of their habit 

 of impaling their prey upon thorns, a 

 locality near a nest looking,' as ex- 

 pressed by one writer, "like a butcher's 

 rack filled with meat.'' They are prob- 

 ably compelled to resort to this method 

 on account of the weakness of their 

 feet, which do not enable them to hold 

 their prey as do the powerful feet of 

 birds of prey. The Loggerhead Shrike 

 may be justly called a bird of prey, 

 being, in fact, fully as predaceous as any 

 of the hawks or owls. Its food is varied, 

 ranging from insects to mammals, its 

 larder including mice, sparrows, vireos, 

 gnatcatchers, buntings, lizards, snakes, 

 grasshoppers, beetles, wasps, spiders and 

 caterpillars. All of these animals, in- 

 cluding the insects, have been found im- 

 paled on thorns by this bird. Curiously 

 enough, the majority of the impaled ani- 

 mals are never eaten by the Shrikes 

 and they may remain, thus impaled for 

 many weeks or until they fall or rot off. 

 It is evident from this observation that 

 the Shrike kills more animals than it 

 eats, and this leads to a consideration 

 of the value of Butcher Birds. Investi- 

 gations of the stomachs of these birds 

 have shown that its beneficial qualities 

 outweigh its injurious qualities four to 

 one, and prove conclusively that it 

 should be protected rather than perse- 

 cuted. 



The Loggerhead Shrike is very bold. 



especially when pursuing its prey. Even 

 the presence of man does not disturb 

 it. Its persistency in chasing its prey 

 is noteworthy ; it will follow a small 

 bird, as a sparrow, in and out of thick 

 bushes, under shrubbery and over trees 

 until the poor victim is fairly exhausted 

 and captured, to be, perchance, impaled 

 upon a thorn while the Shrike eats it at 

 its leisure. 



The method of impaling its prey is 

 thus described by Mr. Benjamin INIorti- 

 mer, in Bulletin Number Nine of the 

 Diyision of Biological Survey of the 

 United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture : *Tn March, 1889, two instances 

 of the Loggerhead Shrike's killing 

 smaller birds came under my notice. 

 In both cases the victim was a grass- 

 hopper sparrow, although birds of this 

 species were few and scattered at that 

 time, while the savanna sparrow was 

 very abundant. The sparrows were im- 

 paled by the neck upon, orange thorns 

 and there were no wounds on any other 

 part of the body. This bird (the 

 Shrike) impales its prey not only when 

 it wishes to preserve it. but also when 

 it intends to devour it immediately, and 

 the long slivers on fresh pine stumps 

 are commonly selected for the purpose 

 whenever they can. be found. The bird 

 flies to a stump with its victim, usually 

 a beetle, and forces it upon a sliver, 

 just behind the thorax, thus leaving a 

 convenient place to stand and a con- 

 venient fork to hold the morsel while 

 he breaks open the hard shell and eats 

 the softer parts. The same stump is 

 resorted to many times by the same bird, 

 so that it is common to find quantities 

 of the legs and wing cases of beetles 

 about these curious diningf tables." 



The flight of the Loggerhead Shrike 

 is very graceful and rapid, as described 

 by one writer: "This bird is really 

 beautiful, especially in its flight, which 

 is low and straight forward, with rapid 



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