116 



78. V. NOUEBAROCENSIS. Vieill. White- Eyed Vireo. Bright olive green ; 

 white below; sides and crissum bright yellow; pale wing' bars ; stripe from bill to 

 and around eye yellow ; eyes white; L. 5 ; W. 23-3 ; T. z}/^. A sprightly bird, un- 

 like the preceding, nesting in thickets ; a loud and varied song. Its white eyes 

 distinguish it from all other wrens. Wilson also called it the "politician," because 

 of its fondness for newspaper scraps. Like its relatives, it is a fell destroyer of 

 noxious insects, feeding eagerly on the destructive canker worm {Breiuer), and in 

 Nebraska feeding on the still more destructive locusts, tearing them to pieces for its 

 young. [Frof, Augkey.) To it, as to other vireos, the horticulturist and farmer 

 owe a lasting debt of gratitude because of the immense number of noxious larvse,. 

 diptera, plantlice, cutworms, etc., they daily devour. 



FAMILY XV. LAXIID.5:. 



{The ShriJces.) 



Primaries 10, the first short (rarely wanting); bill hawk-like, very strong, the 

 upper maudible toothed and abruptly hooked at the tip ; both maudibles distinctly 

 notched. Wings short, rounded. Tail long. Tarsus scutellate on the outside as 

 well as in front. Sexes alike. About one hundred species found in most parts of 

 the world, remarkable for their energy and pugnacity. They are quarrelsome 

 among themselves and tyranize over weaker species. They are carnivorous, feed, 

 ing on such iasects, small birds and quadrupeds as they can capture, even dashing 

 on caged birds and pursuing other species at the cost of their own lives. Their 

 most notable and inexplicable habit is that of impaling their prey on sharp thorns, 

 as the osage, wild apple and honey locust, and leaving it sticking there. This 

 habit has given them the name of "butcher bird," and while many ingenious theo- 

 ries have been suggested as to the purpose of these shambles none are entirely sat- 

 isfactory. Of nearly a dozen species composing Collurio, there are but two Ameri- 

 can species. These have the rictus with bristles, the nostrils concealed by bristly 

 tufts, and the colors black, white and gray. At first blush they resemble the 

 mocking bird in color and action, but a glance at the bill soon settles the diagnosis. 



COLLURIO. Vigors. Shrikes. 



79. C. BOREALIS. Baird. Great Northern Shrike. Clear bluish ash above;, 

 black bars on side of head not meeting in front, interrupted by a white crescent on 

 under eyelid; rump and shoulders whitish; wings black, white below, waved with 

 blackish ; L. 93^ ; W. 4^^ ; T. 4^. A rare winter resident with the snow bunting 

 in Marion county and south, coming with great snow and cold, as in January, 

 1879. In Northern Indiana it is a resident from the last of October to the last of 

 March, some remaining even later. In the fur countries it is also known as "White 

 Whisky John" from its resemblance to the Canada jay, known as the "Whisky 

 John" by corruption of the Indian name Wiskachon. {Dr. Coues.) 



80. C. LUDOVICIANUS. Bd. Common Shrike. Loggerhead Shrike. Clear 

 ashy blue ; a whitish superciliary line ; black bars on sides of head, meeting across 

 forehead ; no crescent on under eyelid ; white below, scarcely or not dark waved ^ 

 L. 81^; W. 4; T. 4!^. 



