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Wyoming Experiment Station. 



not only vicious, but possesses an unpardonable desire to kill 

 any and all kinds of birds that are small enough for him to 

 conquer. He not only kills them to eat but apparently for 

 pastime. I have often found a headless sparrow pinned to a 

 barb on a wire fence in the vicinity where this wicked bird 

 lives. Their boldness in securing prey is almost incompre- 

 hensible. Last fall while in the field I was taking a picture 

 in a gulch, when suddenly a sparrow passed me and only a 



few feet behind it flew a shrike. 

 The sparrow circled and returned, 

 passing me again. This time I threw 

 my hammer at the shrike, but with 

 no effect. I then gathered a handful 

 of stones and the sparrow came 

 nearer and nearer as the shrike in 

 close pursuit seemed absolutely cer- 

 tain of securing his prey. After 

 throwing a dozen or more times one 

 stone passed so near the shrike's 

 wings that he lost his balance and in 

 a second the sparrow sought ref- 

 uge in some small bushes. The 

 shrike did not give up the chase, 

 however, and after resting for a 

 moment on a stick commenced to look again for the spar- 

 row, and it is useless to say that my arm was lame long before 

 I made the shrike abandon his search. Dr. Jesurun of Doug- 

 las reports that he considers these birds beneficial since in 

 the vicinity of Douglas during the winter months, they feed 

 upon English Sparrows. Although this is a desirable trait, 

 the fact that they destroy hundreds and thousands of bene- 

 ficial birds, annually is enough to absolutely condemn them as 

 residents of any locality. The following collectors have re- 

 ported this bird from Wyoming : Drexel, Fort Bridger, 1858 ; 

 McCarthy, Fort Laramie, 1859 ; Coues, Rock creek and Green 



/ NORTH EHN SHRII^^, 

 ^.IVHITE RUMRSD SHI^'KE, 



