GREAT AMERICAN SHRIKE. 105 
be but a very insignificant and tasteless bait for our winter birds, ■\vhich 
are chiefly those of the Finch kind, that feed almost exclusively on 
hard seeds and gravel ; and among whom five hundred grasshoppers 
might be stuck up on trees and bushes, and remain there untouched by 
any of them for ever. Besides, where is his necessity of having recourse 
to such refined stratagems, when he can at any time seize upon small 
birds by mere force of flight ? I have seen him, in an open field, dart 
after one of our small sparrows, with the rapidity of an arrow, and kill 
it almost instantly. Mr. William Bartram long ago informed me, that 
one of these Shrikes had the temerity to pursue a Snow-bird {F. Hud- 
sonia), into an open cage, which stood in the garden ; and before they 
could arrive to its assistance, had already strangled and scalped it, 
though he lost his liberty by the exploit. In short I am of opinion, 
that his resolution and activity are amply sufficient to enable him to 
procure these small birds whenever he wants them, which I believe is 
never but when hard pressed by necessity, and a deficiency of his 
favorite insects ; and that the Crow or the Blue Jay may, with the same 
probability, be supposed to be laying baits for mice and flying squirrels, 
when they are hoarding their Indian corn, as he for birds while thus 
disposing of the exuberance of his favorite food. Both the former and 
the latter retain the same habits in a state of confinement ; the one 
filling every seam and chink of his cage with grain, crumbs of bread, 
&c., and the other sticking up, not only insects, but flesh, and the bodies 
of such birds as are thrown in to him, on nails or sharpened sticks, 
fixed up for the purpose. Nor, say others, is this practice of the Shrike 
difficult to be accounted for. Nature has given to this bird a strong, 
sharp, and powerful beak, a broad head, and great strength in the mus- 
cles of his neck ; but his legs, feet and claws, are by no means propor- 
tionably strong ; and are unequal to the task of grasping and tearing 
his prey, like those of the Owl and Falcon kind. He therefore wisely 
avails himself of the powers of the former, both in strangling his prey, 
and in tearing it to pieces while feeding. 
The character of the Butcher-bird is entitled to no common degree 
of resj^eet. His activity is visible in all his motions ; his courage and 
intrepidity beyond every other other bird of his size (one only 
excepted, the King-bird, L. tyrannus, Linn.), and in affection for his 
young he is surpassed by no other. He associates with them in the 
latter part of summer, the whole family hunting in company. He 
attacks the largest Hawk, or Eagle, in their defence, with a resolution 
truly astonishing ; so that all of them respect him ; and on every 
occasion decline the contest. As the snows of winter approach, he 
descends from the mountainous forests, and from the regions of the 
north, to the more cultivated parts of the country, hovering about our 
