Food of the Great Northern Shrike. 
BY JOHN C. CAHOON. 
In the August number of the O. & O., under 
the heading of the “ Great Northern Shrike and 
its Prey,” Mr. C. C. Maxfield says from his ob- 
servation that the food of the Great Northern 
Shrike seems to be principally English Spar- 
rows. 
With all due respect for Mr. Maxfield in his 
assertion, my own experience with this bird, 
which is based upon the taking and dissecting 
of quite a number, proves to me that in this 
section their food consists principally of bugs, 
worms and small insects. That they do oc- 
casionally kill and eat sparrows and other small 
birds, when driven to it by hunger, is assured- 
ly so, hut I have shot them in the middle of the 
winter where English Sparrows were abundant, 
and upon dissection, failed to find any traces of 
sparrow in their stomach. 
Below I give the contents of the stomachs of 
five, which were shot in the fall, winter, and 
spring; 
No. 1. Adult $. Nov. 17, 1884, Taunton, 
Mass. Contents of stomach — bugs and small 
insects. 
2. Adult 9 . Nov. 27, 1884, Taunton, Mass. 
Contents of stomach— small bugs and parts of 
large ones, and buds of trees. 
3. Adult 9 • March 17, 1885, Taunton, Mass. 
Contents of stomach — small buds and insects. 
4. Adult $ . March 31, 1885, Taunton, Mass. 
Contents of stomach — flies, bugs, worms and 
small inseets. 
5. Adult $ . Dec. 24, 1880, Taunton, Mass. 
Contents of stomach — bugs and white worms. 
(i. Great Northern Shrike, (yng.), shot at Mat- 
inicus Island, Me., Dec. 15, 1887. Stomach com- 
: pletely filled with black hugs, other small in- 
sects, and a substance resembling purple ber- 
kl~^, 
(Q.'y®' 
■*/ir 
(QjjJMl, 
It has generally been conceded that hawks 
and ofvls of all kinds live on birds, poultry and 
small animals, but by recent investigation bj r 
Dr. B. Ilarvey Warren of Westchester, Pa., it 
is found that many of our hawks and owls live 
wholly on mice, insects, etc. 
If all ornithologists and taxidermists would 
note down the contents of the stomach of such 
birds as come into their hands, 1 am certain 
that there would be many new things brought 
to light in the study of ornithology. 
[In January, ’82, 1 noted the appearance of a 
pair of Shrikes in the locality of a large colony 
of English Sparrows. The number of the 
Sparrows decreased until about April 1, when 
there was but one left. The Shrikes shortly 
afterward disappeared. On several occasions 1 
observed Shrikes pursuing the Sparrows, but 
did not -witness a capture. In afterwards re- 
ferring to it, while in company with Mr. S. F. 
Dexter of Pawtucket, il. 1., I found that gen- 
tleman had also been observing the same case. 
In the previous June, 1 witnessed a .Shrike cap- 
ture a Sparrow within ten feet of my window, 
and fly off with it struggling in his beak. 
In examining the contents of several stom- 
achs, I have occasionally found parts of birds; 
in one instance, the entire body of a field 
mouse, but as a rule they have proved to have 
been subsisting principally on beetles. 
O.&o. XIII, Jnly. l88a p . 10 3 -j/tj * ' W ' ] 
Apropos the habit of the Butcher Bird 
of hanging its victims about in conspicu- 
ous places, the custom has its uses after 
all, as the Chickadees, which are really 
quite carniverous little chaps, often make 
a dinner from the remains, and it was this 
habit which suggested a plan for provid- 
ing entertainment for them in the winter 
garden parties which I used to give the 
birds. My plan was to hang scraps of 
pork rind and pieces of beef to the branch- 
es of the trees and shrubs on the grounds, 
and it was not long before all the Chicka- 
dees and Kinglets found it out. The 
Creepers and Nuthatchers sometimes 
came, too, but only in the capacity of look- 
ers on, and I never saw either touch the 
meat, although the Nuthatchers would 
sometimes take a bit of cracked corn. / 
The Shrike and his Prey. 
BY S. W. DENTON. 
An amusing incident occurred yesterday, 
Nov. 27th, that perhaps is worth relating. If 
being an unusually warm, sunny day for this 
time of year, I thought to take a walk through 
the fields and woods along familiar paths where 
in seasons gone by I bad found many a nest, 
and during the heat of day in summer had sat 
under eool, shady trees to watch and study the 
birds. 
In my walk I saw a number of Snow Birds 
{■/unco hiemalis ), Chickadee (Pam* atrwapillus ) , 
Blue Jays ( Cyaiux'iUa cristacn ), a few Tree 
Sparrows {8pize.Ha monticolor ) and a Brown 
Creeper (CenkmfamiUaris enfa). While watch- 
ing the latter as he pryed around under pieces 
of bark on an oak tree, I suddenly caught sight 
of a Butcher Bird, {Lnmius borealis) in pursuit 
of a sparrow who dove into the thickest part of 
an old apple tree quite near me to escape his 
pursuer, who immediately followed the fugi- 
tive, both coming out on the opposite side.” I 
thought it was all “up” with the Sparrow but 
what was my surprise to see him again return 
to the tree and disappear in a hole In a decayed 
limb. For a moment the “Butcher” seemed 
nonplused so great was his surprise, and then 
as though a happy though had struck him, he 
started in head first after his dinner, but alas, 
the hole was too small; in vain lie made re- 
peated attempts but it was “ no go.” Not dis- 
couraged, though apparently disappointed, he 
took a commanding position on a branch over- 
looking tiie hole to wait for his intended vic- 
tim to show himself. But no sir, Mr. Sparrow 
knew better than to do this, and though I 
watched the tree with Lanins a full half-hour 
Mr. Sparrow did not show his head. At last 
while endeavoring (o approach nearer to the 
Butcher took frignt and departed. 
•egret much at not being able to assert pos- 
■ly what kind of a sparrow it was, but as 
tree was a rather awkward one to climb 
throwing a stick against the dead limb did 
dislodge the little fallow r left the spot, but 
i tiie bird was a Tree Sparrow (Spizelht. 
nee. 
& O., Mr. John C. 
land against tiie 
. F. Hess and Mr. 
e food of tiie Great 
see any evidence 
id, principally, on 
- in this country, 
liar Boston) “shot 
winters, and found 
jjsects, etc.,” or be- 
jue killed Oct. 17th, 
worm and part of a 
not begin till Dec- 
here, the snow lies, 
a. Last winter, for 
1 /Viv 
3 6-V 
the 
! icola ) . 
O.&O. XIII.Feb. 1888 p.81 
