274 BIRDS OP ALABAMA 



Food Iiabits. — In its food habits the shrike is both carnivor- 

 ous and insectivorous. Examination of 88 stomachs in the 

 Biological Survey shovi^ed the food to consist of vertebrates 

 (mammals, birds, and a few fish) 28 per cent, and inverte- 

 brates (insects, spiders, and snails), 72 per cent. Insects 

 form the bulk of the food during the vi^armer months, while in 

 winter the greater part consists of mice and small birds. 

 Mice are taken at all seasons and in winter compose half the 

 food; birds make up only 8 per cent of the food for the year. 

 I once shot a shrike in the act of eating a lizard. 



According to Judd, the larger part of the insect food of this 

 shrike consists of Orthoptera (grasshoppers and crickets), 

 and the remainder is principally beetles. In summer, when 

 grasshoppers are abundant, the loggerhead does not seem to 

 attack birds. Grasshoppers and crickets were found in three- 

 fourths of the stomachs examined and 14 of the 88 shrikes 

 had fed exclusively upon these pests.t Cankerworms, cut- 

 worms, and other caterpillars, together vdth wasps and 

 spiders, are destroyed to a moderate extent. As a result of 

 his investigations, Judd concluded that the loggerhead is a 

 decidedly beneficial bird and in this opinion he is supported 

 by all who have studied the bird's habits. 



MIGRANT SHRIKE : La/rdus ludovidanus migrans 

 W. Palmer. 



State records. — The northern race of the shrike occurs in 

 moderate numbers as a fall and winter visitant in the northern 

 parts of Alabama. Specimens have been examined from 

 Woodville, March 9 ; Ardell, March 28 and April 1 ; Leighton, 

 November 3 and 5 (1915), and Oleander, November 1 (1916). 

 McCormack states that migrant shrikes do not pass the nest- 

 ing season at Leighton, but appear there about the middle of 

 August and remain in moderate numbers till about April 10. 

 I saw two individuals at Tuscumbia, September 16, 1908 and 

 R. H. Dean reports seeing the species at Anniston on various 

 dates from September 17 to January 25. 



JJudd, S. D., Biol. Surv. Bull. 9, p. 22, 1898. 



