LANIADiE. Ill 



[28.] 1. Lanius borealis. (Vieillot.) Greater Northern Shrike. 



Family. Laniadas. Sub-family. Lanianse. Swainson. 



Lanius exeubitor. Forster. Phil. Trans., lxii., p. 386, No. 9. 



Lanius borealis. Vieillot. Ois. de I' Am., i., p. 80, pi. 50. Female. 



Great American Shrike. {Lanius ejscubitor.) Wilson, i., p. 75, pi. 5, f. i. Male. 



Sabine. Franhl. Journ., p. 67-4. 

 No. 39, Hudson's Bay Museum. Male. 

 Wawpow-whiskae janneesh, or Meesheh wappisk kaichawn. Cree Indians. 



Plate xxxiii. Female. 



This is by no means an uncommon bird in the woody districts of the fur- 

 countries, up to the sixtieth parallel of latitude, if not still farther north. It is most 

 frequent on the banks of the Saskatchewan, where it is usually seen on the borders 

 of the plains, or in the vicinity of a small lake, perched on the summit of a tree. 

 Its general resemblance to the Corvus Canadensis has obtained for it its Indian 

 appellation of " White-whiskey John ; " but, unlike that bird, it chooses the 

 loftiest look-out it can find, instead of hopping- about among- the lower branches 

 of a tree. It is very wary, flying off when one approaches nearly within gunshot, 

 but settling again on an equally exposed perch after a short flight. In this way 

 it may be pursued two or three times round any small piece of water, until, instead 

 of growing more shy, it becomes less so, and allows the fowler to come too near 

 for its safety. Its voice is a loud and rather harsh scream. It feeds on insects 

 and small birds, which it retains with its foot while it plucks them in pieces with 

 its bill. Birds of this genus have the habit of spitting insects on a thorn, as a 

 butcher would skewer a piece of meat, whence their appellation of " Butcher- 

 birds ; " but no instance of this fell under my notice. Individuals killed at 

 Carlton House early in May had their crops filled with the fragments of grass- 

 hoppers. It remains all the winter in the fur-countries, but is much more frequently 

 seen in summer. Its nest is built in the fork of a tree, of dry grass and lichens, 

 neatly intertwined and lined with feathers. The eggs, five or six in number, are 

 of a pale bluish-grey, spotted at the large end irregularly with dark yellowish- 

 brown. Like the other species of this genus and of Tyrannus, this Shrike attacks the 

 Eagles, Crows, and other large birds, when they approach its haunts, and, by its 

 fierceness and perseverance, drives them away. — R. 



