260 
INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS. 
day, the bold hunter was found to have entered the room, 
through the open window, with a view to despatch the 
remaining victim; and, but for timely interference, it 
would have instantly shared the fate of its companion. 
On another occasion, while a Mr. Lock, in this vicinity, 
was engaged in fowling, he wounded a Robin who flew 
to a little distance and descended to the ground ; he soon 
heard the disabled bird uttering unusual cries, and on 
approaching found him in the grasp of the Shrike. He 
snatched up the bird from his devourer ; but having tasted 
blood, it still followed the gentleman, as if determined not 
to relinquish its proposed prey, and only desisted from 
the quest on receiving a mortal wound. The propensi- 
ty for thus singularly securing its prey, is also practised 
on birds, which it impales in the same manner, and after- 
wards tears them to pieces at leisure. 
From his attempts to imitate the notes of other small 
birds, in Canada, and some parts of New England, he is 
sometimes called a Mocking-bird. His usual note, like 
that of the following species, resembles the discordant 
creaking of a sign-board hinge ; and my friend Mr. 
Brown has heard one mimicking the quacking of his ducks, 
so that they answered to him as to a decoy fowl. They 
also imitate other birds, and I have been informed 
that they sing pretty well themselves, at times, or rather 
chatter, and mimic the songs of other birds, as if with a 
view to entice them into sight, for the purpose of making 
them their prey. This fondness for imitation, as in the 
Pies, may however be merely the result of caprice. 
The parents and their brood move in company in quest 
of their subsistence, and remain together the whole sea- 
son. The male boldly attacks even the Hawk or the 
Eagle in their defence, and with such fury that these gen- 
erally decline the onset. 
