NORTHERN SHRIKE OR BUTCHERBIRD. 17 



appears tbat the beneficial qualities of both shrikes outweigh the injuri- 

 ous. Furthermore, it is probable that when it is possible to study the 

 summer food habits of the butcherbird, this species, like its southern 

 relative, the loggerhead, will be found to be a destroyer of quantities 

 of grasshopiDers and other noxious insects. 



NORTHERN SHRIKE OR BUTCHERBIRD. 



The northern shrike is a bird of the Hudsonian zone, breeding from 

 Labrador to Alaska, and visiting the United States in winter only, 

 when its food supply fails at the oSTorth. During its winter sojourn it 

 renders a threefold service by killing grasshoppers, English sparrows, 

 and mice. The birds and mice together amount to (50 percent, and 

 insects to 40 percent, of the food from October to AjDril. G-rass- 

 hoppers constitute one-fourth of the food, and are equal to twice the 

 combined amounts of beetles and caterpillars. 



Apjiarently no mineral or vegetable matter is intentionally swallowed. 

 Indeed, its exclusively animal diet makes it, practically, a bird of prey, 

 and therefore we must consider what animals it destroys. 



BIRDS EATEN BY THE BUTCHERBIRD. 



The Chippewa Indians call this shrike 'big cannibal bird,' and sev- 

 eral instances of cannibalism are recorded. In one case a hungry 

 butcherbird pounced upon and carried oft' his companion, which had 

 been shot and laid on the top of a log cabin. The butcherbird, when 

 impelled by extreme hunger, becomes very bold, and has been known 

 to enter a room and decapitate a caged canary. 



In the stomachs of the 67 butcherbirds examined 28 species of seed- 

 eating birds were found. Of these 3 were tree sparrows, 5 juncos, and 

 7 English sparrows; the others could not be named with certainty. 

 The tree sparrows and juncos were found in shrikes that had been 

 taken in rural districts. On the other hand, English sparrows were 

 found only in stomachs of birds that had been collected in cities. 



In speaking of the enemies of the English sparrow, Prof. W. B. 

 Barrows says: 



Probably the most useful bird in this respect is the northern shrike (Lanius hore- 

 alis), which visits most of our northern cities in winter and feeds freely on the 

 sparrow. At one time this shrike became so abundant on the Common and public 

 parks in Boston that it threatened to destroy all the sparrows, but the shortsighted 

 authorities kept a man busy shooting *^be shrikes, until several dozen had been 

 killed, and the useless sparrows were considered safe. 



It is to be hoped that in other cities this enemy of the sparrow will 

 be protected instead of persecuted. If there were 6 butcherbirds in 

 each of 20 New England cities, and each butcherbird killed 1 sparrow 

 a day for the three winter months, the result would be a removal of 

 10,800 sparrows. Since 2 sparrows could raise under favorable condi- 

 tions four broods of 5 each, the increase would be tenfold, so that those 

 3225— No. 9 2 



