THE FOOD OF SHRIKES. 
By SYLvester D. Jupp, Ph. D. 
HABITS OF SHRIKES. 
Two species of shrikes inhabit North America. One, the loggerhead 
shrike (Lanius ludovicianus et subspec.), is a permanent resident in the 
United States; the other, the butcherbird (Lanius borealis), visits us 
from the north in winter. Either might be mistaken for a mocking bird, 
but upon close inspection is seen to have the hooked beak of a hawk; 
instead of possessing talons, however, it has weak and slender feet, 
thus combining characters of a bird of prey with those of a song bird. 
During cold weather the shrike in wait for prey takes his stand on 
some high perch that commands a wide view. In this position he 
watches, ready to pounce on the first bird that twitters in the briers, 
or mouse that rustles in the grass. When the quarry has been secured, 
it is carried to a sharp twig or thorn and spitted, and then the hunter, 
ever eager to satisfy lis desire for the chase, goes off to the hedgerows 
to search for more game. In Germany it is said that a closely allied 
species daily kills and impales nine victims, from which belief came the 
common name ‘ Neuntidter’ or Ninekiller. It is well known that the 
shrike kills and hangs up in his shambles more than he can utilize. But 
this apparently wanton slaughter may often be the salvation of many a 
shrike whose hunt over snow-covered fields has yielded no return. 
This habit of impaling its prey is well described by Mr. Benjamin 
Mortimer who, in writing from Orange, Fla., says: 
In March, 1889, two instances of the loggerhead shrike’s killing smaller birds 
came under my notice. In both cases the victim was a grasshopper sparrow, 
although birds of this species were few and scattered at that time, while the 
savanna sparrow was very abundant. The sparrows were impaled by the neck upon 
orange thorns, and there were no wounds on any other part of the body. * * = 
This bird (the shrike) impales its prey not only when it wishes to preserve it, but 
also when it intends to devour it immediately, and the long slivers on fresh pine 
stumps are commonly selected for the purpose wherever they can be found. The 
bird flies to a stump with its victim, usually a beetle, and forces it upon a sliver, 
just behind the thorax, thus having a convenient place to stand and a convenient 
fork to hold the morsel while he breaks open the hard shell and eats the softer parts. 
The same stump is resorted to many times by the same bird, so that it is common to 
find quantities of the legs and wing cases of beetles about these curious dining 
tables, 15 
