Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1902-02-17
GREAT NORTHERN sHRIKE.
A Very Unique Episode in BIRD
life

Life.
Great northern shrikes, said to be
common in Vermont, are much r2rer
today than are loggerheads. A New
Hampshire friend writes me most
interesting experience with this Dlrd
which is best told in her own words.
She writes: One snowy morning IN
March my attention was called TO an
English sparrow that was Justify
bowling for his life from the recess
of a store doorway. He was certainty
in need of speedy help, it help were
to be Of any avail, for he was IN the
clutches of a great northern shflke,
who held him by the neck with strong
mandibles, and was slowly, but surely
choking him to death. My sympathy
was with the smaller bird, while the
shrike was so intent upon securing
breakfast that, ere he knew it, he him
self was made a captive. NotWlth-
standing this unlocked for change IN
proceedings, the shrike still cIung SO
persistently to his vitcim that 1T could
best substitute for thorn-bush thatWe
IlUJlldllOut
captor resorted to the methods OF the
feathered, and, in turn, began choking
the shrike. 1t was not until the
shrikes neck was in danger OF being
broken that he released his grip on
the sparrow's. The sparrow, when
free, shook himself together and went
off with his usual vigor, apparently to
tell mis- experience to his neighbors;
the shrike was less fortunate. After
examining his sleek Quaker clothes, !
was about to give him his freedom,
when a lucky thought led me to i'm
prove this rare opportunity for study
ing the feeding habits of this bird.
I cut off raw piece of beefsteak,
half as large as my thumb, and while
persuading my captive to accept it as
part payment for his lost sparrow, he
escaped from the box in which he was.
confined andVwas at large in the hall.
Instead of a scene-broken glass and
frantic efforts for larger freedom
the bird showed not a particle of
fear, but accepted the steak and began
hopping about the floor. He made no
attempt to eat, yet he hung to the
meat as doggedly as he did to the
sparrow when we attempted to pull it
from his beak, returning repeatedly
to a pair of overshoes that had been
left on the hall floor. In a few minutes
our dull wits began to comprehend his
efforts-he was trying to impale the
meat on buckle of the overshoei We
FASTENED to meet his needs with the
bst substituet for thorn-bush that we
could command on short notice-a
sharp-tined kitchen fork. Instantly
recognizing the possibilities of that
implement, the shrike mountef the
hand that held it, worked the meat on
over it's steel points, which was no
sooner done than he began tearing
Off bits and swallowing them. Strength
for this work lay in his powerful head
neck and shoulders, aided by quick
forward thrusts of his partially-spread
wings. In all these exertions, how
ever, he did not cling hard with his
feet, although he had to tug vigorously
for some of his mouthfuls
He showed no more embarrassment
in partaking of food with the nipple
ments of polite society, and in the
presence of human guests, than he
would have exhibited had his meal
been stretched on barbedwire fence
by a lonely wayside or on the thorns
in a secluded thicket. A neighbor
Joined the dinner party without in the
least disconcerting his majesty, who
ravenously ate on as fast as circum-
stances would allow. His persistency
was several times tested, as was also
his need Of the fork. The meat was
taken off and the fork placed several
inches away, when he held the meat
tightly in his beak until he had found
the sharp tines again. Then the meat
was properly impaled and he proceed