The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1894-12-13
TIE BUTCHER BIRD.
AE KILLS FOR PLEASURE AND PUTS
HIS VICTIMS OUT TO DRY.

He Hangs Snakes. birds ana C~hipfnunlxs
ON Thorn Rushes-A verftabls Terror Of
the woOds-A Born Thief Is well ~
Murderer-The Half Breed Idea.
No bird native to this country Ia SO
little known and surely none has such
striking habits OF life as the shrike, or
butcher bird. He Is o memhar of o fam
lily comprising some 900 species, of
which only. one well defined subfamily
is resident in North America. Bold.
daring, handsome, he liz at once the
braggart and the beau OF the woods. At
q little distance a southerner would
readily mistake him for the knocking
bird.
His blush gray plumage, tail tipped
with white and broad black patch across
each eye give him q trim, jaunty air
quite pleasing to the BYE, but, alas, a
dreaded object to smaller and weaker
birds. His habitat IL northern North
America and though he breeds in the
high ground of New England and New
York he grows more common after the
Canadian line 10 crossed. ~
The shrike is a born tyrant.t Not con
tent with killing and devonring all in
scots large enough to attract his fancy,
he attacks snakes, moles, mioeand small
birds whenever opportunity offers. His
disposition Is as unlovable at home as
abroad, for seldom r two or more seen
together but they are engaged I'm an ug-
~ family quarrel. They are truly car
~nivorous, and except for certain weak.
nesses Of bone and muscle would rank
as true birds Of prey.
There liz ONE strange, uncanny char
acteristic, however, which separates this
woodland bully from all known birds.
Naturalists have watched it, studied it,
pondered over it and written long pages
OF in~explicable explanations OF II, and
common people have doubted In their
superstition or ignorance whether 1t was
the doing Of o bird OF a demon in bird
form. Today IL remains as deep q mys-
terry as it was 100 years ago.
This is the puzzle: The butcher bird
i'm his riotous love of killing Stays many
more victims than he has amy possible
use for. He seems to do IL forsthermere
fun of the thing. Instead Of leaving the
dead, however, he carries them one by
one to some thorny hedge or tree and
there impales them in all sorts of fam
tastic positions i'm the branches. It gives
one O start TO come ont Of o piece Of
woods when cunning and see q thorn
tree laden with O CHASTITY crop of To-
on.Au A0nlu Orn~un~xzo ~wwnca cnnLou l,v-
ards and chipmunks.
If the shrike ever returned to feed
upon his grim hoard, there would be an
explanation of his conduct, and hewould
be credited with the ~epicurean taste OF
o thoroughbred vulture who likes things
"a bit gamy." But such ID not the
case. The weird frnit hangs fer days
upon the limbs, and il hawks orscrOws
do not find and steal it it will rot until
only q few tiny white skeletons remain
to tell of the massacre.
Comparatively few jewellers in the
backwoods know this eccentricity of the
butcher bird, and hence arise many Gu.
rious and apparently well authenticat.
ed stories OF trees that catch birds In
their branches and of storms that rain.
ed down toads and lizards, 30 that the
trees were full OF them.
The butcher bird is q born thief al
well as q murderer and often meets hii
death while hopelessly endeavoring Il
kill and carry of q tame pet bird from
q O or to rob q hunters cabin oi
fresh meat. ANY tidbit he finds he viii
steal, even il only to suspend it from q
locust bongh hard by. The Canadiar
fur traders and trappers despisa him
heartily and never loss a>chance TO Kill
him. The half breeds call him Whisky
joe and claim he is half drunk all
the time, and hence does these foolish
things.
He will spy ont the most carefully
hidden trap and always manage TO pur'
loin the bait without being caught. The
wild country north of the great lakes ii
a fayorite haunt OF these butchers, and
the Indians who hunt and sell furs &c
the Hudson Bay company complain bit.
terly Of the depredations OF Whisky
Joe"
The shrike builds a bulky, somewhat
, elaborate nest of heavy sticks below,
and upon this foundation a warm cover
!, ing OF bark, leaves and grass is laid. II
is usually in some low tree, and thu
eggs which are somewhat smaller thar
q pigeons, are decidedly pretty. TheJ
are of a grayish green mottled. specket
!, and scratched with reddish brown. Tb,
young nestlings begin their edncatioI
by wrangling and fighting as soon ri
Matched, in which amiable diversion
their fond parents set them striking an(
perpetual examples.-New York World
A WIN ON q Cancelled Bond.