THE..CANADTAN SPORTSMAN AND NATURALTST. 





with indignation, we are accustomed to accord 

 in creatures of seeming insignificance, whose 

 exploits demand much strength, greai spirit, 

 and insatiate love of carnage. We cannol be 

 indifferent to the marauder who takes his own 

 wherever he finds it — a feudal baron who holds 

 his own with undisputed sway— an ogre whose 

 victims are so many mure than he can eat, 

 thai he actually keeps a private graveyard foi 

 the balance. Lest such a picture may seem 

 exaggerated, let me make good my statements. 

 The Shrikes food consists ol such birds, quad- 

 rupeds, and reptiles as he can capture ami 

 overpower, together with insects, chiefly of 

 the larger kinds, and especially grasshoppers. 

 These he pursues, attacks, and destroys quite 

 as a Hawk does; and lie has the very curious 

 habit of impaling their bodies upon thorns. 

 Numberless illustrations of the spirit the 

 Shrike displays might be given. Though 

 smaller in stature than the least of our Hawks, 

 he habitually destroys birds and other animals 

 as large as those upon which some Hawks 

 subsist, and quite as capable ol' resisting 

 attack. Appropriating to himself sufficient 

 territory, where no other bird may safely in- 

 trude, he becomes the terror of the neighbor- 

 hood ; and woe to the unlucky Finch or 

 Warbler that ventures to trespass on these 

 hunting-grounds! Like a veritable sentinel 

 on guard, the Shrike stands in wait upon his 

 chosen post, ready to pounce with unerring 

 aim upon the first little bird that may dare to 

 rustle in the nearest bush. His impetuosity 

 and temerity are well displayed in the on- 

 slaught he sometimes makes upon cage-birds 

 hanging at our windows ; and he has even 

 bsen known to enter an apartment, bolting 

 through the open sash with perfect reckless- 

 ness. Dr. Brewer narrates the case ol a Shrike 

 who dashed at a Canary without perceiving 

 trrat the window was closed. He struck tin' 

 glass with all the momentum ol his impetuous 

 flight, and tell to the ground, stunned by the 

 force of the blow.* He revived, however, and 

 was kept in confinement lor some time, during 

 which he continued sullen and fearless, and 

 greedily elevoured small birds which were 

 offered him tor food, though refusing to eat 



*A similar instance of birds' inability to see glass is 

 witlun my own experience. Having on one occasion 

 netted a large lot of Sparrows and other. small birds 

 alive, I turned them loose in a vacant room. In their 

 terror and eagerness to escape, almost every Olie of 

 them dashed against the window in the ionise of a few 

 moments, and suceessively fell stunned and shivering to 

 the floor — some to re :o ver, others, more seriously hurt, 

 to die shortly. 



raw meal of other kind-. Notwithstanding 

 the protection thai n <■■>. 

 arc not seldom killed by the Shrike u 

 speedily relieved from his attack. Sometimes 

 they are bo terror-stricken thai they fall feint- 

 ina to the bottom ol the cage j bul they ol 

 flutter and dash themselves against the wires, 

 till seized by the bird ol prey, who scalps 



them, breaks in their skull, or lake- their 

 head 8 off. The small birds that the Shrike 

 destroys in a state of nature are either cap- 

 tured at a single dash, or caught in open 

 chase, and killed with a blow of the beak. 



TIlC) are llyu devoured upon the -pot. Or 



carried to the " cemetery " and stuck uj i 



thoin, as J shall presently describe with i 

 particularity. As if conscious ol his prowess, 

 ■ the Shrike shows little fear in the preseu 

 man. Under some circumstances, indeed, I 

 have found a Shrike so wild that my en- 

 deavors to obtain a shol were unavailing, but 

 the very opposite is oftenest the case. Yon 

 may enter the thicket the Shrike has chosen 

 as his hunting-ground, and the bird will regard 

 yoti with contempt, returning your regard 

 with a gaze as steady and unflinching as il he 

 were the better man of the two and knew it. 

 At such ;i lime, you will have a good oppor- 

 tunity to observe the easy nonchalant air with 

 which he asserts himself. For all (hat the 

 Shrike is such a gallant marauder, it must 

 not be inferred that he is always on the war- 

 path, intent on prodigies o\' valor. The 

 doughtiest knights lay aside i heir armor at 

 limes, and the Shrike is fond of his ease in 

 the intervals of his piratical enterprises. At 

 such times, you may observe him lounging 

 about with his hands in his pockets, so to 

 speak, and nothing on his mind, when, as 

 you approach, he will turn his head toward 

 Mm with languid curiosity, just tor a moment, 

 and then dismiss you from further consider- 

 ation. Sometimes you will see him ready for 

 business, scanning the neighborhood closely 

 from his watch-tower on the topmost twig of 

 some bush or sapling, where he stands stiffly, 

 bolt upright, like a soldier on dress parade. 

 ready to move at a moment's warning. He 

 makes a rather imposing picture just then in 

 his uniform ol' French gray with black and 

 white facings, which fits him " like a dream ": 

 the next instant — whish! he is gone, and the 

 piteous cry ol the Sparrow in yonder bush 

 tells the rest of the story. A good deal of the 

 Shrike's business, however, is neither brilliant 

 nor romantic. The green sward below his 



