Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/572

536 It bites with great pertinacity, and will seldom let go its hold unless its throat is squeezed.

Its flight is strong, swift, and sustained : it moves through the air in long undulations which have each an extent of twenty or thirty yards, but it seldom rises very high, unless for the purpose of obtaining a good point of observation, and in its usual flight merely passes over the tops of the low bushes rapidly and in silence, in starts of from fifty to a hundred yards. I never saw one walk or move on the ground.

They are extremely fond of crickets and grasshoppers, as well as other kinds of insects, and they feed on the flesh of birds whenever they can procure it. The individuals which I have kept in cages, appeared well pleased with pieces of fresh beef, but they generally remained dull and sullen until they died. As it was only during winter that I had them in confinement, when no coleopterous insects could be procured, I had no opportunity of observing if, like Hawks, they have the power of throwing up hard particles of the food which they swallow, although I should suppose this to be the case. Their propensity to impale insects and small birds on the sharp points of twigs and on thorns, which they so frequently do at all seasons of the year, is quite a mystery to me, as I cannot conceive what its object may be.

I have represented four of these birds of different ages, and therefore differing in colour and size, leaving to the naturalists of Europe to de- termine, if they can, whether the American species be the same as the one found in that portion of the globe. For my part, I believe the two to be the same. In our species the transverse lines of the breast disappear as the bird advances in age, when the tint of the upper part of the plum- •age also becomes lighter.

XiANius ExcuBiTOH, Linn. Svst. Nat. vol. i. p. 135 Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 67.

l.ANius sEPTENTRiONALis, Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. p. 72.

Lanius borealis, Vieill. Ois. de I'Amer. vol. i. p. 80. pi. 50 — Swains, and Richards.

Fauna Bor. Amer. vol. ii. p. HI. pi. 33. (Young.)

Great Cinereous Shrike, Mont. Omith. Diet — Selby, Illustrations, vol. i. p. 148.

Great American Shrike or Butcher Bird, Lanius Excubitor, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. p. 74. pi. 5. fig. I Nuttall, Manual, part i. p. 25. Adult Male. CXCII. Fig. 1.

Bill of moderate length, strong, compressed ; upper mandible with the