SHRIKES. 
197 
a time, tlie 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 fre- 
quented by them, no great difficulty or acute obser- 
vation is requisite for finding them out. In the 
first place, the bird announces its arrival by a 
croaking and most unmusical voice, from the sum- 
mit 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 
imprudence, manifesting great uneasiness and cla- 
mour 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 extra- 
ordinary 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 
bush. 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 be 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 be unable to 
pursue and capture those winged insects which con- 
stitute their chief food. If taken early, they may be 
