NORTHERN SHRIKE OR BUTCHERBIRD. 17 
appears that the beneficial qualities of both shrikes outweigh the injuri- 
ous. Furthermore, it is probable that when it is possible to study the 
summer food habits of the butcherbird, this species, like its southern 
relative, the loggerhead, will be found to be a destroyer of quantities 
of grasshoppers and other noxious insects. 
NORTHERN SHRIKE OR BUTCHERBIRD. 
The northern shrike is a bird of the Hudsonian zone, breeding from 
Labrador to Alaska, and visiting the United States in winter only, 
when its food supply fails at the North. During its winter sojourn it 
renders a threefold service by killing grasshoppers, English sparrows, 
and mice. The birds and mice together amount to 60 percent, and 
insects to 40 percent, of the food from October to April. Grass- 
hoppers constitute one-fourth of the food, and are equal to twice the 
combined amounts of beetles and caterpillars. 
Apparently no mineral or vegetable matter is intentionally swallowed. 
Indeed, its exclusively animal diet makes it, practically, a bird of prey, 
and therefore we must consider what animals it destroys. 
BIRDS EATEN BY THE BUTCHERBIRD. 
The Chippewa Indians call this shrike ‘big cannibal bird,’ and sev- 
eral instances of cannibalism are recorded. In vne case a hungry 
butcherbird pounced upon and carried off his companiou, which had 
been shot and laid on the top of a log cabin. The butcherbird, when 
impelled by extreme hunger, becomes very bold, and has been known 
to enter a room and decapitate a caged canary. 
In the stomachs of the 67 butcherbirds examined 28 species of seed- 
eating birds were found. Of these 3 were tree sparrows, 5 juncos, and 
7 English sparrows; the others could not be named with certainty. 
The tree sparrows and juncos were found in shrikes that had been 
taken in rural districts. On the other hand, English sparrows were 
found only in stomachs of birds that had been collected in cities. 
In speaking of the enemies of the English sparrow, Prof. W. B. 
Barrows says: 
Probably the most useful bird in this respect is the northern shrike (Lantus bore- 
alis), which visits most of our northern cities in winter and feeds freely on the 
sparrow. At one time this shrike became so abundant on the Common and public 
parks in Boston that it threatened to destroy all the sparrows, but the shortsighted 
authorities kept a man busy shooting the shrikes, until several dozen had been 
killed, and the useless sparrows were considered safe. 
It is to be hoped that in other cities this enemy of the sparrow will 
be protected instead of persecuted. If there were 6 butcherbirds in 
each of 20 New England cities, and each butcherbird killed 1 sparrow 
aday for the three winter months, the result would be a removal of 
10,800 sparrows. Since 2 sparrows could raise under favorable condi- 
tions four broods of 5 each, the increase would be tenfold, so that those 
3225—No. 9——2 
