324 POULTRY AND WILD BIRDS 
Shrike Family. — The shrikes are gray-backed birds with black 
wings and tail and white bellies. The sides of the head are marked with 
a conspicuous black band extending from the bill backward far beyond 
the eyes. They are about the size of robins. Their strong bodies and 
hooked bills indicate their hawk-like character. They feed on mice, 
insects, and small birds and have a villainous habit of impaling their 
prey on thorns and barbs. Their practice of killing even much more 
than they can eat has earned for them the name butcherbird. 
621 Northern Shrike. Butcherbird. Length tox inches. 
Distinguished from the Loggerhead by its larger size and the wavy 
dark lines across the white underparts. They breed in the far North. 
In northern Minnesota and North Dakota 
they are more frequently seen in the 
spring. Elsewhere they are considered 
winter visitants. 
622 Loggerhead Shrike. Butcherbird. 
Length 9 inches. 
Smaller than the preceding and without 
the wavy cross-bars below; otherwise the 
same. An occasional summer resident, 
nesting in bushes or trees, five or ten feet 
from the ground. In the northwest we 
have the variety of the Loggerhead known 
as the Migrant Shrike. 
622a@ White-rumped Shrike. S.R. from cen- 
tral Dakota westward. 
LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE Vireo Family. — The Vireos or Green- 
lets are very common little birds, but 
not well known, because, though we hear them singing often enough, 
we seldom see them. They keep within the foliage of trees and 
patiently glean insects from the under surface of the leaves and crevices 
in the bark. With plenty of vireos to protect them our trees would 
always be safe from pests. Their color is green, as indicated by their 
name. They are considered good singers. The beginner will do well 
if he recognizes a bird as being a vireo, even though he cannot tell its 
specific name. 
