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THE CANADIAN SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. 



THE ACADIAN SCIENTIST. 

 We have received No. 4 of this magazine, 

 which is issued in a new and handsome dress. 

 The ma :er is both interesting and instructive, 

 and we have no doubt the improved appear- 

 ance of the serial will conduce to its 

 success. 



' THE LOGGER-HEAD SHRIKE. 

 Lanius ludovicianus,l inn. 



On the rising ground, in the fields behind 

 the village of Lachine, many large thorn trees 

 have been growing for years past, and the 

 Loggerhead Shrikes have, doubtless, for a long- 

 time made the place a resort for the prose- 

 cution of their peculiar habits, as also, to rear 

 their young. They generally arrive in the 

 above locality early in April, as the foundation 

 of the nest is laid about the 18th, and the first 

 egg is probably deposited on or about the 24th 

 of the latter month. A nest of this species, 

 containing three eggs, was found in a thorn 

 tree at Lachine, on the 30th of April. The 

 parents of this nest were shot in its 

 vicinity, before the nest was discovered, but 

 proof of this was the finding of a fully formed 

 egg on dissecting the female. The nest is 

 bulky and warmly constructed, with little 

 pretension to architectural beauty, as it is 

 mainly formed exteriorly of whithered twigs 

 of thorn, stalks of weeds intermixed with 

 horse hair, cotton rags, cord, thread and wool. 

 The interior, or nest proper, is extremely neat 

 and comfortable, being evidently formed for 

 warmth. It has a diameter of three inches, 

 with a depth of two and a half inches, while 

 the wall is a little over one inch thick, thus 

 forming a much larger nest than that of the 

 Red breasted Thrush or Robin. The interior 

 is lined with wool, horse 'hair, and a quantity 

 of feathers from domestic fowl. There is but 

 slight difference in the nuptial plumage of the 

 sexes. I notice that the female has but one 

 central feather in the tail, while the male has 

 two; the tail feathers on each side of the 

 latter are pointed, with white at the apex. 

 The white band on the wing of the male is 



wider than that of the female, and his wing 

 coverts are generally whiter. The throat and 

 under parts are dirty white in both sexes, 

 showing no indication of the dark, wavy lines 

 so conspicuous in their yonng. I am aston- 

 ished that this bird should be taken for the 

 Great Northern Shrike, which is larger and 

 has a more prominently toothed beak. The 

 Loggerhead is weaker in form, besides, the 

 marking of the twO species are so distinct, 

 that the merest tyro who studies our birds 

 should not mistake them. In connection with 

 the above, I have selected Dr. Elliot Coues' 

 charming and accurate discription 



" Of Shrikes in a Slate of Nature? * 

 " We will here take up the Loggerhead and 

 the Northern Butcher-bird together — for they 

 are as one in all essential particulars — re- 

 serving for after consideration the few points 

 that mark their respective histories. Looking 

 at the bold, defiant aspect of the Shrike, 

 however inadequately portrayed in the accom- 

 panying sketch, we cannot tail to recognize a 

 bird of extraordinary spirit, — the stout, hooked 

 beak, combining claw and tooth in one mur- 

 derous instrument, is surely the weapon of a 

 Hawk, or other rapacious bird ! In one sense 

 we certainly have here a bird of prey ; yet, if 

 the portrait were finished at full length, we 

 should find the feet as week and harmless as 

 those of a Thrush or Sparrow, instead of being 

 furnished witli the talons which confer such a 

 raptorial prowess upon the Falcon, the Eagle, 

 and the Owl. If, furthermore, we should 

 examine the anatomy of the Shrikes, it would 

 be merely to discover that the entire structure 

 of the internal organs is modeled after a 

 strictly Passerine type. Though the bone 

 and muscle indicate unusual strength and 

 vigor, the beak itself'is the seal of the Shrike 

 order — a mark as plain and unmistakable as 

 that which stamps the tribes of Israel, where- 

 ever dispersed over the earth — the symbol of 

 a spirit, as bold and reckless as ever dwelt in 

 the breast of any one of the Hawks called 

 " noble" in the olden time, when falconry be- 

 guiled the leisure hours of kings and royal 

 mistresses. Matching the bravest of the brave 

 among birds of prey in deeds of daring, and 

 no less relentless than recklees, the Shrike 

 compels that sort of deference, not unmixed 



* Birds of the Colorado Valley, part 1st, 1878. 



