THE GREAT NORTHERN SHRIKE. 



(Lanius borealis.) 



Of the great family Laniidae, the 

 shrikes, of the order Passeres, we have in 

 America only two species, the Great 

 Northern Shrike, Lanius borealis, and 

 the loggerhead shrike, which has been 

 dealt with in a previous article. The 

 name of the Great Northern Shrike 

 is much more than a mouthful, and is all 

 out of proportion to the size and impor- 

 tance of the bird, though when I intimate 

 it lacks in importance I by no means wish 

 to say that it lacks in interest. 



There are two hundred species of 

 shrikes altogether, nearly all of them be- 

 ing confined to the Old World. When 

 one comes to know fully the characteris- 

 tics of the creatures he feels that the birds 

 would not have been out of place if they 

 had been classed in the order Raptores, 

 because they possess the distinguishing 

 traits of the bird of prey. The shrikes, 

 however, do not have talons, and they are 

 singers of no mean order, facts which 

 perhaps disqualify them for association 

 with their larger rapacious brethren. 



The Great Northern Shrike, more com- 

 monly perhaps called Butcher Bird, 

 comes from northern British-American 

 territory to the latitude of Chicago in the 

 fall and stays through the winter, when 

 it leaves for the vicinity of Fort Ander- 

 son in the crown territories, to build its 

 nest. This is placed in a low tree or 

 bush and is composed of twigs and 

 grasses. The eggs number four or five. 

 During the winter the shrike's food con- 

 sists almost entirely of small birds, with 

 an occasional mouse to add variety. In 

 the summer its diet is made up chiefly of 

 the larger insects, though at times a small 

 snake is caught and eaten with apparent 

 relish. 



The Great Northern Shrike has the 

 habit of impaling the bodies of its victims 

 upon thorns or of hanging them by the 

 neck in the crotch of two small limbs. The 

 bird has a peculiar flight, hard to de- 

 scribe, but which, when seen a few times, 

 impresses itself so upon the memory 



vision that it can never afterward be mis- 

 taken, even though seen at a long dis- 

 tance. The Great Northern's favorite 

 perch is the very tiptop of a tree, from 

 which it can survey the surrounding 

 country and mark out its victims with its 

 keen eye. In taking its perch the shrike 

 flies until one gets the impression that it 

 is to light in the very heart of the tree. 

 Then it suddenly changes direction and 

 shoots upward almost perpendicularly to 

 its favorite watch tower. 



The Great Northern Shrike is larger 

 and darker than its brother, the logger- 

 head. It is also a much better singer. 

 Its notes being varied and almost entire- 

 ly musical, though occasionally it per- 

 petrates a sort of a harsh half croak that 

 ruins the performance. In general ap- 

 pearance at some little distance the shrike 

 is not unlike a mocking bird. The de- 

 scription here given for the adult answers 

 for both male and female : Upper parts 

 gray ; wings and tail black ; primaries 

 white at the base, secondaries tipped with 

 white or grayish ; outer, sometimes all 

 the tail feathers, tipped with white, the 

 outer feathers mostly white; forehead 

 whitish ; lores grayish black ; ear coverts 

 black ; under parts white, generally finely 

 barred with black ; bill hooked and hawk- 

 like. Immature bird similar, but entire 

 plumage more or less heavily barred or 

 washed with grayish brown. 



One has to have something of the 

 savage in him to enjoy thoroughly the 

 study of the shrike. As a matter of fact, 

 the close daily observance of the bird in- 

 volves some little sacrifice for the person 

 whose nature is tempered with mercy. 

 The shrike is essentially cruel. It is a 

 butcher pure and simple and a butcher 

 that knows no merciful methods in ply- 

 ing its trade. More than this, the shrike 

 is the most arrant hypocrite in the whole 

 bird calendar. Its appearance as it sits 

 apparently sunning itself, but in reality 

 keeping sharp lookout for prey, is the 

 perfect counterfeit of innocence. The 



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