10 
FI KTIIER ()1!SER\'AT1()XS OX MINNESOTA F.IRDS: 
(breast, head, and back a deep, lustrous black ; long wing-feathers 
at base a rich, salmon ; about half of the outer tail feathers, 
sides of breast, and body beneath wings deep salmon) he is con- 
tinually spreading and flirting his tail, extending his wings, and 
making short flights from the trees seeking insects, much after 
the manner of our common fly-catchers. The female is much dull- 
er-colored, greenish-gray on head and back and yellowish where 
the male is salmon. 
THE GREAT NORTHERN SHRIKE; BUTCHER BIRD. 
A misconception regarding this bird prevails among many, a 
mistake which is encouraged by its name and perhaps added to, 
unfortunately, by the illustrations frequently seen, showing the 
bird with a captured sparrow. It is true, however, that he kills 
sparrows and other small birds, a fact evidently fully appreciated 
by his intended victims, since a panic among* them is caused by his 
appearance, but he atones for this by killing* and devouring field 
mice, shrews, and injurious insects. It is to his credit, also, that 
he is a persistent enemy of the English sparrow — a bird respon- 
sible for many ills and now recognized as one means of dispersal 
of the much-dreaded San Jose scale. The great northern shrike 
is common in our fields until late fall, sometimes as late as De- 
cember in the latitude of Minneapolis, and even later in the south- 
