318 LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE. 
smaller in stature than the least of our Hawks, he habitually destroys birds and other 
animals as large as those upon which some Hawks subsist, and quite as capable of 
resisting attack. Appropriating to himself sufficient territory, where no other bird may 
safely intrude, he becomes the terror of the neighborhood; and woe to the unlucky 
Finch or Warbler that ventures to trespass on these hunting grounds! Like a veritable 
sentinel on guard, the Shrike stands in wait upon his chosen post, ready to pounce with 
unerring aim upon the first little bird that may dare to rustle in the nearest bush. His 
impetuosity and temerity are well displayed in the onslaught he sometimes makes upon 
cage birds hanging at our windows; and he has even been known to enter an apart- 
ment, bolting through the open sash with perfect recklessness. Dr. Brewer narrates the 
case of a Shrike who dashed at a Canary without perceiving that the window was 
closed. He struck the glass with all the momentum of his impetuous flight, and fell to 
the ground, stunned by the force of the blow. He revived, however, and was kept in 
confinement for some time, during which he continued sullen and fearless, and greedily 
devoured small bitds which were offered him for food, though refusing to eat raw meat 
of other kinds. Notwithstanding the protection that a cage affords, Canaries are not 
seldom killed by the Shrike unless speedily relieved from his attack. Sometimes they are 
so terror-stricken that they fall fainting to the bottom of the cage; but they oftener 
flutter and dash themselves against the wires, till seized by the bird of prey, who scalps 
them, breaks in their skull, or takes their heads off. The small birds that the Shrike 
destroys in a state of nature are either captured at a single dash, or caught in open 
chase, and killed with a blow of the beak. They are then devoured upon the spot, or 
carried to the ‘cemetery’ and stuck upon a thorn, as I shall presently describe with 
more particularity. 
“As if conscious of his prowess, the Shrike shows little fear in the presence of man. 
Under some circumstances, indeed, I have found a Shrike so wild that my endeavors to 
get a shot were unavailing, hut the very opposite is oftenest the case. You may enter 
the thicket the Shrike has chosen as his hunting ground, and the bird will regard you 
with contempt,. returning your regard with a gaze as steady and unflinching as if he 
were the better man of the two and knew it. At such a time, you will have a good 
opportunity to observe the easy nonchalant air with which he asserts himself. For all 
that the Shrike is such a gallant marauder, it must not be inferred that he is always 
on the war-path, intent on prodigies of valor. The doughtiest knights lay aside their 
armor at times, and the Shrike is fond of his ease in the intervals of his piratical enter- 
prises. At such times, you may observe him lounging about with his hands in his 
pockets, so to speak, and nothing on his mind, when, as you approach, he will turn his 
head toward you with languid curiosity, just for a moment, and then dismiss you from 
further consideration. Sometimes you will see him ready for business, scanning the 
neighborhood closely from his watch-tower on the topmost twig of some bush or sap- 
ling, where he stands stiffly, bolt upright, like a soldier on dress parade, ready to move 
at a moment’s warning. He makes a rather imposing picture just then in his uniform 
of French gray with black and white facings, which fits him ‘like a dream’: the next 
instant—whish! he is gone, and the piteous cry of the Sparrow in yonder bush tells 
the rest of the story. . 
