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 determine, 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 plumage also becomes lighter.
Lanius Excubitor, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 135.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 67.
Lanius septentrionalis, Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. p. 72.
Lanius borealis, Vieill. Ois. de l'Amer. vol. i. p. 80. pl. 50.—Swains. and Richards. Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. ii. p. 111. pl. 33. (Young.)
Great Cinereous Shrike, Mont. Ornith. Dict.—Selby, Illustrations, vol. i. p. 148.
Great American Shrike or Butcher Bird, Lanius Excubitor, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. p. 74. pl. 5. fig. 1.—Nuttall, Manual, part i. p. 25.
Adult Male. CXCII. Fig. 1.
Bill of moderate length, strong, compressed; upper mandible with the dorsal outline a little arched, the tip declinate, the edges sharp and inflected towards the strong process, which is separated from the tip by a deep sinus; lower mandible with the dorsal line convex, the sides rounded, the edges inflected, the acute tip ascending. Nostrils basal, lateral, half closed by an arched membrane. Head large, neck short, body robust. Feet of ordinary length; tarsus rather short, compressed, anteriorly scutellate, sharp behind; toes five, the lateral ones nearly equal, the hind toe stouter; claws arched, compressed, acute.
Plumage soft, blended. Long bristles at the base of the bill. Wings of ordinary length, the fourth quill longest, third little shorter, second shorter than sixth, first about half the length of second; secondaries rounded, with a minute tip. Tail long, straight, graduated; of twelve rounded feathers.