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The Great Northern Shrik 
Prey. 
BY C. C. MAXFIELD. 
Ill the July number of the O. an 
short article by my friend, Benj 
see myself quoted as finding i 
thorns, etc. 
Instead of having found them hi 
I have, on several occasions, seij 
Northern Shrike kill English sf 
hang them in the forks of small bi 
Oswego river. The Shrike at Phi 
is a bird very hard to find in suture 
occasionally .seen, but in wintei 
common, and I cai 
their food seems 
sparrows. I huvi 
mounted in the po 
shot. I had folk 
from our farm bar 
a sparrow, and he 
away with the spa 
after a short time 
^ branch a short dis 
which was the spa 
have always, until 
hang their prey in 
one did not offer I 
weather and I th 
something to do w 
as fifteen or twe 1 
farm burn yard, in 
I think the shri 
this account, if o 
proaches, the shril 
mice, and again an 
they deserve a iim 
they get. 
I would like to h 
observers on this s 
An egg before 
of four, the otli 
( Molotlivs ater) 
pretty evenly n 
and blotches o 
about the large I 
markings, maki 
marked in a u 
measures .75 x . 
X 
I- 1 
►H 
to 
co 
CO 
1 
part of Oswego County, but 1 
time I have ever observed the 
there. The latter are to be seen 
of the year and probably breed 
bers. 
In the spring of 1885, I was a<: 
up the Oneida and passing the 
< row Blackbird had taken possi 
had built her nest in the top. 
the bird before she flew off an 
mistaken in such a common bin 
of four eggs from the nest. 
'This nest was very light and 
pared with other nests of the sa 
appeared to be only lining, a 
lacking the coarser outside in 
usually found in their nests, 
parts of the wood of the stub w< 
ble through the nest. 
Remarkable Nesting Si 
Black Snowbir 
10 
fr 
O 
H 
>-< 
<1 
k 
i* 
>-* 
CD 
particularly when fresh, 1 
pink cast of shell so cot 
and wliic-h is lost on blow 
from a light hackgroum 
lavender, reddish-brown 
spots, and blotches, givi 
of a chocolate cast at 
white shell sparsely hu' 
the above colors, and oc 
phase is taken, which i 
took a white set. 
The shell is strong, hi 
something of the gloss oj 
Once in a while a person 
eggs tli at has the shell 
This is something that t 
unsatisfactorily explaine 
The size of these eggs 
as .70 x.52, and is appro 
they vary greatly, and I 
would vary from these 1 
smaller fully .10 of an ii 
collection one “runt” e, 
is not much lax’ger tlia 
.48 x .40. The other for 
age . 73 x. 55. The “litt 
way as perfectly market 
its larger brothers. 
Incubation lasts abou 
tiroly performed by the 
the young arc hatched 
helps to feed the famii 
only work I know of h 
consists mainly of the 
the swamps, and the o 
from their home until 
fly, when they hunt in i 
and usually leave us fo^ 
tember 1st, and we ha'' 
golden-colored little 1 
My theory (slight proof), that how the Shrike 
obtains what few insects and worms they may 
get in winter (not in October, for in this month 
they might get plenty of insect food in freshly 
plowed fields), is this: During the winter 
months farmers are engaged, more or less, 
cutting wood and chopping down useless fruit 
trees. The woods are thinned out so much 
that dying or dead trees are used mostly. In 
cutting and splitting such timber, the grubs 
and beetles are exposed. 
I agree with Mr. Calioon that Tern draw up 
their feet when flying. I have noticed it in two 
species of 'Tern, and more particularly with the 
Herring Gull. During cold snaps they hover 
over the river, oftentimes clearing the bridges 
by less than thirty feet. 
If Mr. Arthur H. Howell will refer to the 
Laws of State of New York, 1880, page 009, 
chapter 427, lie will gain the desired informa- 
tion regarding a permit. Most respectfully, 
D. D. Stone. 
Oswego, x. Y v. Ifrfrf. *.<?/ 
Bir4s Tioga Go, N.Y, Juana Coring , 
~148. ~Grreat Northern Shrike or Butcher Bird. 
Common, hut only as a winter visitor. Then- 
food at this time consists of Sparrows and 
other small birds. I once shot one which had 
caught a Sparrow and had its head nearly 
eaten off. _ on 
O.&bi Stae.JSSO* P*8«_ 
BY \V. L. BISHOP, KENT VI 1 
