166 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 
(a). 8-9 inches long. Like the Butcher-bird (A), but more 
slaty above, and generally with no white on the head (except 
on the*throat), the eye-stripes meeting on the forehead. 
(b). The nest is said to be much less elaborate than that of 
the ‘‘Butcher-bird,” though the eggs are very similar to those 
of that bird. Dr. Brewer says: “‘The spots are usually larger 
and more scattered than in the eggs of C. borealis.” 
(c). The Loggerhead Shrike is chiefly an inhabitant of the 
Southern States, and I have heard of but few instances of its 
capture in New England or the State of Massachusetts. It is, 
however, says Mr. Allen, in his “Notes on the Rarer Birds of 
Massachusetts,” a summer-resident at Hamilton, in Canada 
West, on the Northern Shore of Lake Ontario (MelIlwraith), 
and has been known to breed at Buffalo, New York. Wilson 
says that “this species inhabits the rice plantations of Carolina 
and Georgia, where it is protected for its usefulness in destroy- 
ing mice. It sits, for hours together, on the fence, beside the 
stacks of rice, watching like a cat; and as soon as it perceives 
a mouse, darts on it like a Hawk. It also feeds on crickets 
and grasshoppers.” 
(@). He adds that “its note, in March, resembled the clear 
creaking of a sign board in windy weather.” 
§15. The Fringillida, or finches, form our largest fam- 
ily (the warblers being second in size), and include the spar- 
rows, buntings, linnets, grosbeaks, and crossbills. They are 
chiefly granivorous (or at least vegetarians), and consequently 
are less migratory than insectivorous birds. They are very 
sociable among themselves, and in some cases gregarious. 
They are clad both plainly and brilliantly, sometimes with 
crests, but are in nearly all cases musical, sometimes very 
highly so. Some of them are eminently field-birds, and on this 
account are easily observed in the country. As architects they 
are not to be ranked high, though their nests are often very 
neatly built. Their eggs exhibit great variety in colors and 
markings, and two (or even three) sets of four or five are laid 
by several species in one season, even so far to the northward 
as Massachusetts. 
