636 
BIRD-LIFE. 
sprinkled with pale olive and ash-gray spots; they are 
hatched in fifteen days, and, like the young, are objects of 
great affection in the eyes of the parent birds. The 
tender nestlings are at first fed solely with insects; later 
on the old birds bring them numbers of mice and small 
birds, and on this account they often do a great amount 
of damage amongst the latter. They defend their progeny 
at the risk of their lives, forgetting their own safety when 
that of their offspring is at stake. How intelligently they 
perform this duty I have already described at page 335. 
All Shrikes are easily tamed, and this bird may be 
trained, like a Hawk, to fly at small birds, such as the 
Quail. They thrive well in confinement on ordinary 
bird’s food, and are very entertaining, on account of their 
song and graceful movements. They must not, however, 
be placed in the same cage with other birds, because by 
degrees they are sure to destroy the other tenants. By 
placing a sprig of blackthorn in the cage, one may 
have ample opportunity of observing how they spit all 
insects before devouring them. Naumann kept several 
Gray Shrikes in captivity in a summer-house, in which 
he erected a small gallows, the cross-piece of which he 
furnished with pointed nails, upon which they impaled 
everything that was given them. 
