SHRIKES: WHITE-RUMPED SHRIKE 
597 
Orpheus, he also mounts to the topmost spray of some lofty tree to 
display his deceptive talent and mislead the small birds so as to bring 
them within his reach. His attitudes are also light and airy, and his 
graceful, flowing tail is kept in fantastic motion” (1905, part I, p. 161). 
A trap of the bird bander, Mr. Jensen, once attracted a hungry 
Shrike. When discovered it was fluttering around his trap trying to get 
at the imprisoned birds, a Junco and a House Finch. When it finally 
succeeded in entering the trap, although the watchful bander was 
instantly on the spot, he was too late to save the birds (1923a, p. 333). 
But in the Kowak Valley, Alaska, where Doctor Grinnell found the 
Shrikes in the willow bottoms a terror to the Redpolls, although one of 
the Redpolls was seen being carried to a nest in a clump of spruces, 
lemmings and meadow mice were the usual prey of the Shrikes. 
WHITE-RUMPED SHRIKE: Lanius ludovicianus excubitorfdes Swainson 
Description. — Length: 8-10 inches, wing 3.7-4.1, tail 3.7-4.3, bill from nostril 
.4-.5, tarsus 1-1.1. Adults: Upperparts light slate-gray, darkest on head, fading to 
white on upper tail coverts; tail and wings black, tail feathers (except two middle 
pairs) broadly tipped with white; wings with outer scapulars and tips of secondaries 
white; wide eye streak, lores, and nasal tufts wholly black; underparts pure white, very 
slightly, if at all marked. Young: Like adults but general colors less strongly con¬ 
trasted, washed with brown and narrowly barred, wing coverts tipped with buffy. 
Range. —Breeds in Transition and Austral Zones from central Alberta, central 
Saskatchewan, and southern Manitoba south (between western border of Great 
Basin and eastern border of Great Plains) to central Texas, Durango, and Tepic, and 
to Lower California; winters south over Mexico to Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca. 
State Records. —Throughout the lower parts of nearly the whole of New Mexico 
the White-rumped Shrike is found in summer. It breeds regularly and commonly to 
6,000 feet at Silver City (Fisher); [commonly on the Pinyon Flats in the Santa Fe 
region, where fresh eggs are found April 20 to June 1 (Jensen, 1922)]; and frequently 
seen along Red River and in clumps of willows at a few other points in Colfax County, 
July 28-October 24, 1913 (Kalmbach); but is more common from about 5,000 feet, as 
at Santa Rosa, down to the lowest parts of the State at Mesilla (Merrill); and Carls¬ 
bad (Bailey). [It was noted between Socorro and Albuquerque August 28, 1917 
(Ligon).] 
In the fall it ranges somewhat higher to 7,000 feet at Largo Canyon, October 2, 
1906 (Bailey); Folsom, 7,000 feet, August, 1903 (Howell); Lake Burford, 7,500 feet, 
September 30, 1904 (Bailey); and once at Willis, 7,800 feet, in the fall of 1883 (Hen- 
shaw). 
It winters in southern New Mexico, at Silver City (Marsh); and less commonly 
north to Albuquerque (Henshaw). On the Carlsbad Bird Reserve it was fairly com¬ 
mon in January, 1915, and noted in the winter of 1915-16; [it was rather common 
in December, 1916, and on the Rio Grande Bird Reserve (Elephant Butte) was noted 
between November 23 and December 9, 1916 (Willett).] It probably winters also 
occasionally throughout the warmer parts of northern New Mexico.—W. W. Cooke. 
Nest. —In thorn trees, hedges, briers, cactus, and sagebrush; bulky, made vari¬ 
ously of sticks, leaves, grass, wool, and feathers, lined with grass stems, weeds, and 
sometimes hair. Eggs: 4 to 6, grayish to yellowish white, spotted with brown and 
lilac. 
