92 Bird - Lore
whitish below, but the Butcher Bird has the under parts generally barred with black and the lores grayisht
External Struttrtrz.—A strongly hooked, hawklike bill is the chief char— acteristic of the true Shrikes and is clearly related to their raptorial habits. The feet. however, are more passerine in form and evidently lack suflicient
NORTHERN SHRIKE. Famlly Lamrdiz Onwthird natural sin
strength to enable the bird to hold its prey while it is being dissected. Hence the habit of impaling, See BIRD-LORI; II, 195, where, in de- scribing the actions of a captive Northern Shrike, Mrs. Webster clearly shows that the bird requires some object on which to impale its food before devouring it.
Appearance and HabitL—Shrikes are solitary and never abundant, but are easily observed because of their habit of taking a conspicuous perch. The flight is direct and generally concluded by an abrupt upward swing as the bird takes its perch. Their prey is generally captured by a flight straight from the perch and is sometimes impaled on a thorn, sharp twig or barbed wire, or hung in a Crotch.
Sang.-The Butcher Bird has a decidedly sweet, varied song of not great volume; the Loggerhead is an equally ambitious but less successful vocalist.
