nd days of close study of this bird I saw
nothing of the kind. The only utterance I heard from him, excepting his
song, of which I shall speak presently, was a rattling cry with which he
pursued an intruder, and a soft, coaxing "yeap" when he came to the nest
and found his mate absent.

One of the most prominent traits of this bird, as we find him depicted
in the books and the popular writings, is his quarrelsome and cruel
disposition; and "brigand," "assassin," "murderer," and "butcher" are
names commonly applied to him.

[Sidenote: _FRIENDLY RELATIONS._]

I watched the shrike several hours daily for weeks, and from the first I
was every moment on the alert for the slightest manifestation of these
characteristics; and what did I find out? First as to his quarrelsome
disposition, his unfriendliness with his own species. I have already
spoken of the amicable association, in the very nesting-tree, of half a
dozen of the birds, as reported by a trustworthy and experienced
observer. On one occasion, somewhat later, I saw an exhibition of a
similar friendliness among four adult shrikes. They were frolicking
about another thorn-tree in the same pasture, in the most peaceful
manner; and while I looked, one of them picked up a tidbit from the
ground and flew to the nest I was watching, thus proving that the
nesting-bird was one of the group. At least twice afterward, when
silently approaching the nest, I found two other shrikes hopping about
with the one I was studying, on the ground, almost under the tree. On my
appearance the strangers flew, and the nest-owner went up to his mate
with an offering. We do not think of calling the robin or bluebird
particularly quarrelsome, yet fancy one of these birds allowing another
of his species to come to his home-tree! Every close observer of
bird-ways knows that it is apparently the first article in the avian
creed to keep every other bird away from the nest.

And how did the terrible "brigand" treat his neighbors? The robin,
indeed, he drove away, but meadow larks sang and "sputtered" at their
pleasure, not only beside him on the fence, but on his own small tree;
goldfinches flew over, singing and calling, and no notice was taken of
them; sparrows hopped about among the branches of the thorn at their
discretion; a chickadee one day made searching examination of nearly
every twig and leaf, going close to and over the nest, where the sitting
bird must have seen him, yet not a peep aro