10 



FURTHER Ol'.SERX'ATIONS OlV MINNESOTA BIRDS: 



(breast, head, and back a deep, lustrous black ; long wing-feathers 

 at base a rich, salmon ; about half of the outer tail feathers, 

 sides of breast, and body beneath wings deep salmon) he is con- 

 tinuall}- spreading and flirting his tail, extending his wings, and 

 making short flights from the trees seeking insects, much after 

 the manner of our common fly-catchers. The female is much dull- 

 er-colored, greenish-grav on head and back and _vellowish where 

 the male is salmon. 



THE GREAT NORTHERN SHRIKE; BUTCHER BIRD. 



A misconception regarding this bird prevails among many, a 

 mistake which is encouraged by its name and perhaps added to, 

 unfortunately, by the illustrations frequently seen, showing the 

 bird with a captured sparrow. It is true, however, that he kills 

 sparrows and other small birds, a fact evidently fully appreciated 

 by his intended victims, since a panic among them is caused by his 

 appearance, but he atones for this by killing and devouring field 

 mice, shrews, and injurious insects. It is to his credit, also, that 

 he is a persistent enemy of the English sparrow — a bird respon- 

 sible for many ills and now recognized as one means of dispersal 

 (if the much-dreaded San Jose scale. The great northern shrike 

 is common in our fields until late fall, sometimes as late as De- 

 cember in the latitude of Minneaiiolis, and exen later in the south- 



