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fixed upon, and the combat ends with the destruction of the assailant as well as of the defender.

For this reason, the most redoubtable birds of prey respect them; while the kite, the buzzard, and the crow, seem rather to fear than seek the engagement. Nothing in nature better displays the respect paid to the claims of courage, than to see this little bird, apparently so contemptible, fly in company with the lanner, the falcon, and all the tyrants of the air, without fearing their power or avoiding their resentment.

As for small birds, they are his usual food. He seizes them by the throat, and strangles them in an instant. His name of nine-killer he derives from the popular belief that he catches small birds to the number of nine, and impales them on a thorn, before he begins to tear them to pieces to satisfy his hunger. The fact is, that he pays no such attention to the regularity of number, but, being a bold bird, capable of killing much bigger birds than himself, he hangs his prey on a thorn, as a butcher does a beast on a hook, that he may dissever it with more convenience to himself.

During summer, such of them as constantly reside here, (for the smaller red butcher-bird migrates,) remain among the mountainous parts of the country; but in winter they descend into plains and nearer human habitations. The larger kind make their nests on the highest trees, while the lesser build in bushes in the fields and hedge-rows. They both lay about six eggs, of a white color, but encircled at the larger end with a ring of brownish red. The nest on the outside is composed of white moss, interwoven with long grass; within, it is well lined with wool, and it is usually fixed among the forking branches of a tree. The female feeds her young with caterpillars and other insects while very young; but soon after accustoms them to flesh, which the male procures with surprising industry. Their nature also is very different from other birds of prey in their parental care; for, so far from driving out their young from the nest to shift for themselves, they keep them with care; and even when adult, they do not forsake them, but the whole brood live in one family together. Each family lives apart, and is generally composed of the male, female, and five or six young ones; these all maintain peace and subordination among each other, and hunt in concert. It is easy to listinguish these birds at a distance, not only from their going companies, but also from their manner of flying, which is always up and down, seldom direct or sideways.

Of these birds there are above forty different kinds, foreign and domestic; but the great cinereous butcher-bird is the least known in Europe. The little butcher-bird, or red-backed shrike,1 which is called a flusher, is about the size of a lark, and has a large head. The back and upper side of his wings are of a rusty color; the throat and breast white, with red spots, and the head and rump cinereous.

1 Lanius collurio, GMEL.

The woodchat resembles the former, except in the color of the back, which is brown, and not red, as in the other.

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THE form and countenance of this bird bespeak him full of courage and energy; and his true character does not belie his appearance, for he possesses these qualities in an eminent degree. It is not yet decided whether it be the same as the cinereous shrike of Linnæus; its habits and manners appear to be the same.

This bird frequents the deepest forests; builds a large, compact nest, of dry grass and moss, in the upright fork of a small tree. In his manners he has more resemblance to the pies than to birds of prey, particularly in the habit of carrying off his surplus food, as if to hoard it for future exigencies; with this difference, that the pies conceal theirs at random in holes and crevices, where perhaps it is forgotten; while the shrike sticks his on thorns and bushes, where it shrivels in the sun, and soon becomes useless to the hoarder. One of these birds had once the temerity to pursue a snow-bird into an open cage which stood in a garden; and, before any one could arrive to its assistance, had already strangled and scalped it, though he lost his. liberty by the exploit. In confinement, he sticks up not only insects, but flesh, and the bodies of such birds as are thrown to him, on nails and sticks fixed up for the purpose.

The character of the butcher-bird is entitled to no small degree of respect. His activity is visible in all his motions; his courage and intrepidity beyond every other bird of his size, (the king-bird excepted,) and in affection for his young, he is surpassed by no other. He associates with them, the whole family hunting in company. He attacks the largest hawk or eagle in their

defence, with a resolution truly astonishing, so that all of them respect him, and on every occasion decline the contest. As the snows of winter approach, he descends from the mountainous forests and from the regions of the north, to the more cultivated parts of the country, hovering about our hedge-rows, orchards, and meadows, and disappears again early in April.

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THE SPOTTED FLYCATCHER.1

THE tribes of flycatchers are so named from living on insects. The spotted flycatcher, however, eats fruit, and is on that account called, in some parts of England, the cherry sucker. It is, in general, of a mouse color, the head spotted with black, and the wings and tail edged with white. Of all the European summer birds it is the most mute and the most familiar; it also appears the last of any. It builds in a vine or a sweet-brier, against the wall of a house, or in the hole of a wall, or on the end of a beam or plate, and often close to the post of a door where people are going in and out all day long. This bird does not make the least pretensions to song; but uses a little inward, wailing note, when it thinks its young in danger from cats or other annoyances. It takes its stand on the top of some stake or post, from whence it springs forth on its prey, catching a fly in the air, and hardly ever touching the ground, but returning still to the same stand, for many times together.

THE PIED FLYCATCHER.2

THIS bird is about five inches long. It has a black beak, hazel eyes, and white forehead; the top of the head, the back, tail, and legs, are black; the rump is dashed with ash color; the wing-coverts are dusky, and the greater coverts are tipped with white; the exterior sides of the secondary quills are white, as are also the outer feathers of the tail, and all the under parts, from the bill to the tail. The female is much smaller than the male, but has a

1 Muscicapa grisola, LIN. The genus Muscicapa has a bill strong, angular, depressed at the base, compressed towards the point, which is curved and much notched; base furnished with long and stiff hairs; nostrils basal, lateral, ovoid, partly covered by hairs; tarsus as long as the middle toe; lateral toes almost equal.

2 Muscicapa albicollis, TEM.

longer tail; is brown where he is black; and has not the white spot on the forehead. They are most plentiful in Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Derby

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shire. Their nests are built in holes of trees. The parent birds incessantly feed their young with small flies, which they catch very expertly.

THE KING-BIRD, OR TYRANT FLYCATCHER,1

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SOMETIMES called the field marten, is a well known bird in the United States. The name king, as well as tyrant, has been bestowed on this bird for its extraordinary behavior in breeding time, and for the authority it assumes over all other birds. His extreme affection for his mate, nest, and young, makes him suspicious of every bird that comes near his residence, so that he attacks every intruder without discrimination; his life at this season is one continued scene of broils and battles; in which, however, he generally comes off conqueror. Hawks and crows, the bald eagle, and the great black eagle, all equally dread a rencontre with this merciless champion, who, as soon as he perceives one of these last approaching, launches into the air to meet

1
1 Muscicapa tyrannus, BONAP.

him, mounts to a considerable height above him, and darts down on his back, sometimes fixing there to the great annoyance of his sovereign, who, if no convenient retreat be near, endeavors, by various evolutions, to rid himself of his merciless adversary, but 'the king-bird is not so easily dismounted. He teazes the eagle incessantly, sweeps upon him, and remounts, that he may descend on his back with greater violence; all the while keeping up a shrill and rapid twittering. The purple marten, however, is sometimes more than a match for him; and the red-headed wood-pecker is seen to amuse himself with the violence of the king-bird, and play bo-peep with him round a rail, while the latter, highly irritated, makes every attempt to strike him, but in vain.

He annoys the farmer very much by his partiality to bees. He plants himself on a post of the fence near the hives, and makes great havoc among these industrious insects. But the cultivator may be assured that this bird is greatly his friend, in destroying multitudes of insects and their larvæ, which prey on the harvests of his fields. He often takes his stand in fields of pasture, on the tops of mullen and other rank weeds, near the cattle, and makes sweeps after passing insects, particularly the large black gadflies, so terrifying to horses and cattle. His eye moves restlessly about him, traces the flight of an insect, then that of a second, and even a third, till he sees one to his liking, when with a shrill sweep he pursues it, seizes it and returns to the same spot, to look out for more. He hovers over the river for a considerable time, darting after insects, snatching them from the surface of the water, and diving about in the air like a swallow; for he possesses, at will, great powers of wing. His flight is much like that of a hawk. Beside insects, he feeds on various sorts of berries, particularly blackberries, of which he is extremely fond.

The general color of this bird is a dark slaty ash; the throat and lower parts are pure white; the plumage on the head, though not forming a crest, is frequently erected, and discovers a rich bed of orange color, called by the country people his crown; when the feathers lie close, this is concealed.

THE GREAT-CRESTED FLYCATCHER1

Is not so well known as the preceding, being chiefly confined to the woods. There, his harsh squeak, (for he has no song,) is heard above most others. He also visits the orchard, is equally fond of bees, but wants the courage and magnanimity of the king-bird. He builds his nest in a hollow tree deserted by the blue-bird or woodpecker. The materials of which this is

1 Muscicapa crinita, LIN.

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