272 BIRDS OF ALABAMA 



at Greensboro ; Saunders saw a pair feeding young at Stew- 

 artsville, Coosa County, May 4, 1908 ;* Holt collected 2 speci- 

 mens (adult male and young) at Wilsonville, June 4, 1913; 

 and I saw 3 and took 1 young bird at Tuscaloosa, June 2, 1913. 

 Dean saw one at Anniston May 18, 1916 — probably a breeding 

 specimen of this race. I found the bird rather common in 

 May on the coast at Coden, and in June observed a few at 

 Dothan and Abbeville. It has been seen in the breeding sea- 

 son also at Seale, York, Myrtlewood, Bay Minette, and Mobile. 

 In winter it has been observed in small numbers at Ashford. 

 Orange Beach, Bayou Labatre, Petit Bois Island, Jackson, 

 Carlton, and Uniontown. Specimens were taken at Auburn, 

 October 1, 1908, and March 7, 1912. Dr. Avery found a nest 

 with incubated eggs at Greensboro, April 25, 1887. Fresh 

 eggs have been taken at Barachias, April 4 and May 26 

 (Holt) , and incubated eggs at Autaugaville, April 2 (Golsan) . 

 Palmer records eggs taken at Gastonburg, March 29, 1888.t 



General habits. — The shrike is a bird of open farming coun- 

 try and is usually of frequent occurrence along roadsides, 

 where the telephone wires afford it convenient perches while 

 it is on the lookout for its prey. It resembles the mocking- 

 bird in general appearance but may be distinguished by its 

 shorter tail and shorter, hooked bill. The shrike does not 

 hunt for its prey, but remains motionless on some elevated 

 perch until it spies something desirable — ^grasshopper, beetle, 

 or mouse — ^when it drops lightly to the ground and seizes its 

 quarry with its claws and kills it with its strong beak. Many 

 of its victims are impaled on thorns or barbed wires, which 

 probably aid the bird in tearing them apart and affords an 

 opportunity to return later to the feast if nothing better 

 offers. 



The notes of the shrike are harsh and unmusical. Chapman 

 describes them as "a series of guttural gurgles, squeaky 

 whistles, and shrill pipes." 



The nest is a rather bulky structure, composed of small 

 sticks, rags, cotton, weed stalks, and feathers, placed usually 

 in thorny bushes or hedges, 7 to 15 feet from the ground. 

 Two or sometimes three broods are reared in a season. 



*Saunder8, A. A., The Auk, vol. 25, p. 421, 1908. 

 fPalmer, W., The Auk, vol. 15, p. 251, 1898. 



