FOOD OP THE BUTCHERBIRD. 19 



MAMMALS EATEN BY THE BUTCHERBIRD. 



The stomacli of a shrike that has recently eaten a mouse is found to 

 be filled with a large ball of fur, with bones in the center. It is impos- 

 sible for these large masses to pass through the small intestine, there- 

 fore they are expelled through the mouth. A number of birds, includ- 

 ing the European shrike {Lanius excubitor), are known to disgorge 

 pellets after the manner of birds of prey. 



Mice were found in one-third of the stomaciis examined, constituting 

 one-fourth of the food, and were eaten most frequently in March. Of 

 these mice 15 were identified as follows: 1 white- footed mouse {Pero- 

 myscus), 1 harvest mouse {Beithrodontoinys), and 8 meadow mice 

 (Microtus). This last mouse is the one that oftenest falls a victim to 

 hawks and owls. Mr. William Brewster, of Cambridge, Mass., states 

 in The Auk (Vol. XI, p. 329) that he saw a shrike seize a large meadow 

 mouse by the back, drag it across the snow, and then drop it. The 

 mouse, instead of trying to escape, sprang at the shrike and drove it 

 back several feet. Finally the bird, by several well -aimed passes, suc- 

 ceeded in intimidating the mouse, and then, as the latter turned to run 

 away, caught it by the neck and worried it to death, as a terrier would 

 a rat. The mouse was afterwards borne off in the shrike's claws and 

 fixed in the fork of a tree. Meadow mice, besides consuming grass and 

 grain, also girdle fruit trees, and the house mouse, in addition to wast- 

 ing corn in the granary, wantonly destroys grain standing in the shock. 



Dr. E. A. Mearns, United States Army, states in a letter that shrikes 

 in Minnesota during March live exclusively upon meadow mice {Micro- 

 tus), and Mr. W. L. Scott (The Auk, Vol. I, p. lo8) cites an instance 

 in which a butcherbird was caught in the act of giving chase to a 

 chipmunk [Tamias striatus). 



Carrion is sometimes eaten. Prof. P. E. L. Beal, while at Ames, Iowa, 

 in January, 1880, saw a butcherbird fly over the brown frozen prairie 

 to a carcass of a cow, where it lit on one of the ribs and greedily tore 

 off shreds of the flesh. 



INSECTS EATEN BY THE BUTCHERBIRD. 



Active insects are much more liable than sluggish ones to fall victims 

 to the butcherbird, because objects which at rest can not be discrim- 

 inated are instantly seen when moving. Thus it hapi^ens that flying 

 grasshoppers and running beetles form a large proportion of the food 

 of this bird. Grasshoppers and crickets {Orthoptera), which are eaten 

 during every month from October to April, form 24 i:)erceut of the total 

 volume of food, and for October and November together these insect 

 pests form more than half of the food. Compared with Orthoptera, the 

 beetles [Coleoptera) eaten are of minor importance, amounting to only 

 6 percent of the food. More than half these beetles belong to the 

 family Carabidce, the members of which prey upon insect pests. Cater- 



