Bethel, Maine.
1903.
June 8
(No 2)
  I searched all the scattered trees & fence posts in 
the neighborhood in the hope of finding more victims but
without success. The Bluebird had been removed from 
the willow since my last visit on the afternoon of the 5th.
Migrant  Shrike
  Not long after the appearance of the male Shrike this morning
I saw the female sitting on a fence rail well out in the
open fields. For nearly an hour she remained within 20 yards
of the same spot although she frequently took short flights
usually to the ground and back again to the same or
a neighboring perch on the fence rails or posts. Although I
watched her closely I did not once see her catch anything.
Her manner of flying down to the ground and back reminded
me strongly of that of a Bluebird. Sometimes she would
remain on the ground for a minute or more hopping or
fluttering from clod to clod on some recently ploughed land
evidently looking for insects, but ordinarily she flew back
to her perch almost immediately after alighting on the ground.
While perched she remained for the most part as immoveable
as a Hawk & in a similarly erect, tense attitude.
  Her mate was in sight most of the time. His favorite
perches were on the telegraph poles & their connecting wires
along the roadside. While sitting on these his attitudes were
as light & graceful as those of the Northern Shrike & he
balanced himself in the same way shifting his position
frequently and often raising & lowering his long tail as well
as occasionally half spreading it. It was a beautiful
sight to see him start from his elevated perch
and after a few rapid vibrations of his short, white spotted
wings, glide on a long, gentle incline half across a broad
field before coming to the ground. Sometimes he would
move very swiftly but as a rule his motion after he