SHRIKES. 
163 
A few years ago, a naturalist, for curiosity, removed to his 
garden several webs-full of the larvae of the brown-tail moth 
(Pk. jphceorrheus), which, from its numbers and voracity, 
had been looked upon as a perfect scourge where it abounded. 
For a time, the caterpillars seemed to feed and thrive, and 
finally spun themselves up. In the next season, however, 
few came forth; and at the season when the hedge might 
have been expected to swarm with the newly-hatched eggs, 
not one appeared. 
But to return to our Shrikes : in the parts of England 
frequented by them, no great difficulty or acute observation is 
requisite for finding them out. In the first place, the bird 
announces its arrival by a croaking and most unmusical 
voice, from the summit of some tree ; then it builds a large 
and ill- concealed nest, which, if not found out by actual 
detection, the male will usually discover by its own impru- 
dence, manifesting great uneasiness and clamour when any 
one approaches. No sooner are the eggs hatched, than the 
female lends her aid to the discovery of her brood, uniting 
her vociferations to those of the male. And should the nest, 
by extraordinary good luck, continue undiscovered, no sooner 
are the young ones capable of making a noise, than they all 
join in the cry upon any approach to their hush. We have 
noticed the lengthened kindness existing between the old and 
young birds ; this begins from the moment of their issuing 
from the egg ; for no birds can he more assiduous in their 
attentions to their offspring than the old Shrikes; feeding 
them most carefully, long after they have left the nest, — an 
instinctive precaution, probably more necessary in these than 
most other birds, as, for a long time, in consequence of their 
being heavy and inactive when young, they would he unable 
to pursue and capture those winged insects which constitute 
their chief food. If taken early, they may he easily tamed ; 
but their pugnacious disposition, which does not appear in 
their own family circle when wild, is often fatally conspicuous 
when they are confined in a cage. Mr. Montague, who kept 
several, found, that at about the end of two months, violent 
battles ensued, to such a degree, that he was obliged to 
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