JULY. 183 



shrike was in the garden all the while, and but for close 

 inspection of every bush for cocoons, I might nerer have 

 seen him. As it was, he proved unlike others of his 

 tribe, and all day long sat mopish as an owl — except upon 

 occasion. 



In past years when I have met with these birds, they 

 have been as active as thrushes, and in their movements 

 so like them that, when known at all, they are thought to 

 be birds of that family. They have a few harsh utter- 

 ances peculiar to themselves, and a knack of mimicking 

 other birds to a limited extent. This also iadds to their 

 thrush-like features, and has led to their being called 

 " mocking-birds." Not altogether a misnomer, either, for 

 they have a direful way of mocking at the protests small 

 birds make when their true characters are recognized ; and 

 conclude their mockery by killing another and another of 

 the fault-finders. 



I do not know how far it holds good elsewhere, but 

 shrikes in winter, as I have found them, prefer the banks 

 of creeks, and particularly such as are overgrown with 

 evergreens. In other words, they skulk among the 

 cedars rather than roam about the fields, and seldom 

 take a protracted flight. In the limited area they choose 

 for their winter haunts, they are content to remain, pro- 

 vided the food supply is kept up ; but they are not con- 

 tent to remain idle. They are, rather, constantly on the 

 go, but only from one tree to another, and at intervals 

 rushing with closed wings from the dense cedars to some 

 thicket near by, from which they promptly reappear, with 

 their victims held hopelessly in their powerful beaks. 



One of several mysteries connected with the flight of 

 birds is this of protracted, swift progression with closed 

 wings. I have seen a shrike leave a tree by giving two 

 or three vigorous strokes of the wings, and then, with 

 these held closely to the body, swiftly pass into a thicket 



