Capture of the Loggerhead Shrike in Winter in New Hamp- 
shire. — Another late and northern record of the Loggerhead Shrike 
(Lanins ludovicianus') occurring in New England has been placed at my 
disposal by Mr. Charles F. Goodhue, of Webster, N. H., who has kindly 
forwarded me a specimen for examination which was taken near Concord, 
N. H., January 20, 1879.- — Ruthven Deane. 
ftall. N.O.C. 4. April, 1879, p, H1-/ZO. 
The Loggerhead Shrike in New Hampshire. — On the morning of the 
i6th of April of this year an unfamilar bird-note — as of a Robin with a 
cleft tongue — attracted my attention to a clump of balsams {Abies bal- 
samea ) in the yard of our nearest neighbor. Here, after a few moments 
of hide and seek, I discovered the birds to be a pair of these Shrikes ( La - 
nius ludovicianus') although at first I quite naturally supposed them to be 
Lanius borealis , with whose acquaintance I have been little favored. 
For the next ten days the birds were seen continually as they boldly flew 
about the houses gathering materials for their nest. This they built 
close to the trunk of one of the balsams, at a distance of about 20 feet 
from the ground and scarcely more than that from the upper windows of 
the house. On the 27th one egg was found, and, to anticipate any pos" 
sible unnatural actions on the part of the birds, was taken. The female, 
however, soon resumed her oviparous duties so that on May 4 we secured 
five more eggs. But meanwhile doubts had arisen as to the species ; accord- 
ingly the birds were shot and have since been identified by the editor of 
this Journal as Lanius ludovicianus. 
The nest, which is large for the size of the birds, is composed outwardly 
of twigs rather loosely joined together by wads of worsted and twine; the 
inner portion, however, is quite compact, being composed of dried grasses 
and roots finely interwoven with feathers and soft bits of worsted. The 
depth of the nest is two inches*; its diameter is three inches. 
The eggs are of a grayish-white ground-color, entirely covered with 
small blotches of a sandy-brown of several shades, darkest at the large end. 
The eggs measure (in inches) 1.01 X - 7 °j -94 X * 74 ? * 9 ^ X .7°? - 9 ^ X 
.70; .96 X 70; .98 X .66. 
While under my observation the Shrikes did not evince a particularly 
savage or quarrelsome disposition ; when the neat was building they en- 
joyed driving away the Robins, whose customary abode they had pre- 
empted, yet neither in the trees near at hand, nor in an apple tree 
about 300 yards distant which the male made his look-out, did we see any 
evidences of impaled victims. They frequently alighted in the grass, ap 
patently in search of grasshoppers and crickets. Their vocal range was 
broad; but to our ears disclosed a painful lack of culture; save tor an oc- 
casional liquid, far-away, tone, like a bitof blue sky seen through angry 
clouds, — their notes were very harsh and discordant. In concluding 1 
will say that another season will doubtless add further evidence, and suffi- 
cient, for the complete establishment of the fact that L. ludovicianus is a 
regular resident in this locality. — Edwin Brant Frost, Hanover , N. II. 
Auk, 2, Oct., 1886. p. £7*7. 
Winter Birds of Webster^N . H. byFalco. 
Loggerhead Shrike, ( Lanius hidomcianns). One 
specimen taken in Concord, N. H., .Tan. 
20 th, 1879 . 
O.&o. X. Jan. 1885. P. A 
