Morning journal and courier., 1894-05-24

wood mice, tiny lizards and even gay
moths thus stuck away to dry. Some OF
than had remained In place evidently for
months, perhaps years; they were mere
sfslstons held together BY q dessicsted
skin.
The behavior of q shrike while intent
upon securing q victim TO inpale is inter
ssting. IL is by no means the same ss
when he means to eat his catch. In The
latter case he is bold. fsrce and terribly In
earnest; in the former you sse q furtire,
snesking assassin's look In his general
countenanee. / mean that his physical
expression is one of Low cunning MIXED
with deadly purpose. The old Greek poet
may have caught o suggestion from the
shrike before writing:
Love took the Muses. kAtydia
And stuck q on q thoru."
Be this ne it may, that is what the shrike
does to our cicads, and there ha leaves the
poor Insect. Dr.. Newton says that the
European bird impales its prey In order
the more easily to hold II while eating it;
out this certainly is not generally true of
our species. Many and many a time
have seen a shrike carry a small bird, say
black capped tit-monse to the top Of q
fence stake, or TO stout branch of a thorn
tree, and there holding IL with Its feet de-
your 1t Just as 9 sparrow hawk would have
done, whereas the prey when fxed upon q
thorn is nearly always placed In such o sit.
cation that &c you'd bs very sif3eult for
the bird to eat it at all.
By the Crsnetah, q brook that emptIes
Into the Coosawatt<e river, once lsy rest-
Ing, after some hours spent among the
squirrels. l was reading, as has always
been my habit when lounging indoors or
out, and come slight movement In the
6nRn drew 6r.Nnsfn~ 10 a abs Il kn
ereeping on q bough. saw at once what
he meant to do by the vIlla!nous look of
bis black eyes. A little green fnch,
swinging back downward under the out
mcst sprsy of the branch. was busy
pecking st something, probably Insect
eggs, on the lower side of q leaf The
shrike intsnded to Hill IL.
Every tender Hearted person must feel
that / ought to have lnterfered, and
assent; even at this distance wish that I
had; but the regret, like most of IT'S kind,
flls the merest nook in the garret Of
memory. The finch discovered its dan
ger and took to wing. After It like q
bolt went the shrike and ttruck ii In
midair. A ring of greenish feathers told
the story. / saw how the shrike caught
Its victim with fits claws and at the same
time, doubling up in the air. laid hold
with Its powerful beak. A hawk cannot
do this; indeed, the feat 10 a remarkable
one which / have since witnessed many
times; Ii calls for extraordinary athletic
power. But the mos: amazing part OF
the performance came when the shrike,
still continuing to hold Its prey with both
claws and bill. few directly to thorn
bush and, with scarcely a pause, dashed
1T upon . spike and there left 1t to make q
few couyulsive struggles and die.
For q long while lay still and
watched to see IL the assassin would make
a meal Of his pitted victim. Nothing of
the sort happened With an air Of ut
most Indifference the hesrtless thing eat
upon bough rod or two distant and
preened Itself, then, dying from tree to
tree, disappeared in the wood and did
not return. A month or more later i
found myself near the same spot and Gu
riosity led me to look at the thorn tree
to see IL the Huch had been eaten. There
1t hung. q poor, little mummy huttsring
dryly In the breeze.
After all the shrike is q handsome bird
for pretty is too little a word for him-s
vigorous, lively, courageous spirit beams
ont of him; snd ] greatly admire him
despite his deadly butcher propensitiss
He is 9 fne fash of color along our lanes
as he nies from spray to spray of the
heipes