76 OUR SOUTHERN BIRDS 



whose food consists chiefly of insects. But when 

 beetles, lizards, grasshoppers, and field-mice fail, 

 the Shrike makes a prey of small birds; and it 

 makes one shudder to see a bonny Warbler or 

 Kinglet impaled on a thorn or on the barbs of a 

 wire fence. 



The habit of thus impaling its victims, as a 

 butcher hangs quarters of beef on his hooks, 



SHRIKE 



Length 9 inches 



seems at first a needless and wanton mutilation, 

 but there is a reason for it. The feet of a 

 Shrike are not formed with talons, like those of 

 a bird of prey, but are the slim and clasping 

 claws of a perching bird. Hence in order to hold 

 his meat while tearing it to pieces, he pins it 

 fast with a thorn. 



He is no singer, but can only whistle and 



