Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1908-07-30

great northern shrike than there 10
to observe those Of the loggerhead.
The northern bird IL with us IN win
ter, and hunger drives him into the
cities, where he carries on the lauda-
BILE work Of killing English sparrows.
One of these birds daily visited tree
In front of my window overlooking q
busy city street. Almost invariably
he caught a sparrow. Once after
he had struck q victim It es.
capped from him and fell fluttering to
snow bank. picked up the spar
row and killed 1t to put 1t out Of Its
misery. It had q clean, round hole
in its skull. How the shrike made
such q perfect circle with Its hooked
beak has been a puzzling question to
this day.
On another occasion witnessed q
bit OF shrike strategy. The bird knew
apparently that the crevices in tho
cornice Of a big city building ar
forded retreats for the sparrows. 1t
few along the cornice fiuttering its
wings and literally beating the GOV.
erts." A frightened sparrow few out
and the shrike gave chase. The spar
row zigzagged in its flight, bothering
Its pursuer not a little. The shrike
"overran" the sparrow time after
time, but finally seized 1t just as 1t
reached the edge of a thick bush. In
the heart OF which It would have been
safe. The victim was killed and Its
brains were eaten with an appetite
sharpened by the chase. The shrike
Is a smaller bird than the robin. 1t
sings we'll and 1t is hard to account
for its predatory habits.
Something was said recently about
a goldfinch which sheltered its young
from the heat of the sun by spread
ing its wings and forming feathered
canopy over the nest. DR.. Dearborn,
assistant curator of birds at the Field
Columbian museum, secured a photo
graph of a goldfinch doing this act of
kindness for its little ones.
Something has been said of the ap
parent disregard OF birds for odors
that arc offensive to man. Possibly
we should not regard such indiffer.
ence to bad smells as being a particle
more peculiar than are the tastes OF
birds in the matter Of diet. The robin
loves angle worms, while man regards
them with loathing. The black-billed
and the yellow-billed cuckoos think
hairy caterpillars the most epicurean
Of repasts. Nearly every other spe'
cies Of birds turn away from the cat
erpillars, which, were 1t not for the
cuckoos, would soon denude our trees
Of the beauty Of their foliage. The
buzzard dimes on dog and considers
that he has Toasted. What Is little
thing like smell to an organism that
can thrive upon the repulsive things
OF earth?
/ have seen birds OF many kinds
drink of the waters Of a spring that
smelled to heaven, while not ten
yards away was sweet lowing
fountain. To be sure, the spring
where the songsters drank was me-
dicinal, and man partook freely
while he held his nose. Possibly long
before man came the birds had found
the virtue that was In the waters.
The rose-breasted grosbeak. one OF
our common summer residents has
In recent years developed food fond
ness for which the farmer rises mp
and calls him blessed. The grosbeak
has found potato bugs to his liking
and he destroys the pests by the hun
dreds. A pair Of grosbeaks In po-
tato field will do all the service OF q
barrel Of paris green and viii leave
no poison traces behind to mar the
results of their work. The rose
breast is the very Beau Brummel OF
birds. His appearance would denote
a taste for ambrosia. but potato bugs
are to his liking. and who will quar-
rel with q preference directed along
the lines Of such usefulness to man
hind?
EDWARD q. CLARK.