320 LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE. 
not be doubted that the action is sometimes performed. When not on the wing, we 
may observe in the Shrike’s habitual attitudes the same blending of Mockingbird and 
Hawk; or rather, the transition from one to the other, when his air of indifference 
and rather ‘slouchy’ appearance give way to the martial bearing which indicates that 
his attention is riveted upon intended conquest. 
“So versatile and animated a spirit as that which the Shrike possesses necessarily 
seeks expression. There is no reticence about this bird, whose harsh outcries we may 
in turn interpret to mean anger and exultation—the challenge and the conquest — while 
the course of his passionate life runs on in almost incessant warfare. These notes mean 
much the same as the stridulation of the Kingbird, in whose temper there is ,much of 
kinship with the Shrike, both being impatient and aggressive birds. But notwithstand- 
ing the magnitude of his exploits, the Shrike is not a very lofty character after all; he 
picks many a needless quarrel with his fretful fellows, and all the petulance of a wilful, 
badly governed disposition may be traced in some of the harshest of the cries that greet 
our ear. It is easy to say, and quite safe to make the assertion, that nothing more 
unmusical than the Shrike’s notes is often heard; and it is usual to compare the voice 
of this bird to the creaking of a sign-board, or the grating of any other rusty hinge. 
But I suspect, though I am not a competent witness in this case, that those are right 
who ascribe to the Shrike some powers of song, limited though they be. Technically 
speaking, the Shrike is as truly Oscine as the Mockingbird itself; and no 4 priori reason 
appears why his notes should not at times be modulated with a tuneful quality. Sev:2ral 
authors have in fact asserted such to be the case, protesting fairly against any sweeping 
denunciation in this particular.”’ 
The Shrikes build their nests preferably in thorny hedges of the osage orange, in 
honey-locusts, and, in the South, also in orange trees and mesquit bushes. The nest is 
a loose, bulky, but very warm structure, being composed of plant-stems, thorny twigs, 
grasses, paper, wool, feathers, rootlets, mosses, etc. The lining consists of feathers 
which usually conceal the eggs from view. 
The eggs, five to six in number, are almost identical with those of the Northern 
Shrike. They are dull white or greenish-gray, spotted and marked with obscure light 
brown and purple. 
NAMES: LoccGEerRHEAD SHRIKE, Loggerhead, Butcher-bird, Common Butcher-bird, Louisiana Shrike, Carolina 
Shrike, Southern Shrike. : 
SCIENTIFIC NAMES: LANIUS LUDOVICIANUS Linn. (1766). Collyrio Indovicianus Brd. (1858). Lanius 
carolinensis Wils. (1811). 
DESCRIPTION: “Adult: Above, ash-gray, usually somewhat paler—occasionally white—on the upper tail- 
coverts, the tips of the larger and outermost scapulars distinctly white. Wings and tail, black; 
secondaries, tipped with white, and primaries with a white patch at the base; ends of tail-feathers, 
except middle pair, white, the outer rectrices sometimes almost wholly white. Lores, orbits, and 
auriculars, deep black. Lower parts, entirely white, the sides sometimes tinged with grayish. Bill and 
feet, black at all seasons; iris, brown..... 
“Total length, about 9.00 inches; wing, about 3.75 to 4.10; tail, about 4.00 inches.” (Ridgway, 
“Ornithology of Illinois,” Vol. I, p. 194.) 
The variety, L. Iudovicianus excubitorides Cours, is paler, the upper tail-coverts usually more or 
less distinctly whitish, the scapulars more extensively white, the sides usually faintly, if at all, tinged 
with gray; wings, tail, and tarsus averaging longer and bill smaller. 
