560 DISTKIBTJTION OP THE NORTHERN SHRIKE 



mnch diminished, but I have never seen it absent altogether. This feature, 

 coupled with the particular character of the head-markings and the large 

 size and compartively short tarsi, will always distinguish the species from 

 L. ludovicianus or excuMtorides, and although the upper parts are paler than 

 in the last, there is less white on the scapulars and tail-coverts. 



THIS species is very properly called the Korthern Shrike, 

 or Butcherbird, since its boreal habitat is the principal 

 point in its history in comparison with the Loggerhead and 

 White-rumped Shrikes. It is found in all portions of the Fur 

 Countries up to the limits of arboreal vegetation, if not still 

 farther north. In those regions, it is said to be called the 

 " White Whiskey- John " from its resemblance to the Canada 

 Jay, Perisoreus canadensis, commonly known as the " Whiskey- 

 John ", by a corruption of its Indian name WisJcacJion. Some 

 individuals not only pass the breeding season in these high 

 latitudes, but reside there throughout the year. The greater 

 number, however, migrate in the fall, and become generally 

 dispersed through the United States during the winter. This 

 migration is nevertheless restricted to some extent. Shrikes 

 of this species being far more numerous in the Northern and 

 Middle than in the Southern States. On the Atlantic side, I 

 have traced the Butcher-bird no farther south than Wash- 

 ington, where it is rare, though a few may be seen in the 

 , course of a winter, especially in severe weather. At Prescott, 

 Arizona, I once secured a specimen which I found dead in a 

 house, behind a piece of furniture, where it had taken refuge 

 during a storm. This occurred at the residence of Dr. G. C. 

 Leib, whom I was then called to attend in his last illness. His 

 name will be remembered by ornithologists in connection with 

 his papers in the Journal of the Philadelphia Academy on 

 Fuligula ^^grisea" and on the nest and eggs of the Coot and 

 Blue- winged Teal. Ridgway found it in I^evada, and Henshaw 

 in Southern Utah ; while both Mr. Aiken and Mr. Trippe 

 attest its regular appearence in Colorado. Audubon speaks of 

 the occurrence of the species as far south as Natchez, Missis- 

 sippi, and states that it is not rare in Kentucky during the 

 winter. We have also many advices from the interior States ; 

 but I never saw anything of the bird in either of the Caro- 

 linas, and I believe that it has never been heard of in the 

 South Atlantic States. It has occurred in the Bermudas. 



Though thus decidedly Northern, and chiefly a migrant into 

 the United States, this Shrike is well known to nestle occa- 



