Democratic Sentinel, Volume 12, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 April 1888 — Cruelty to Insects. [ARTICLE]

Cruelty to Insects.

Of all the birds in this section, says a Florida letter, there is one that will afford an idler lots of amusement if he will spend an occasional hour watching closely. It is the shrike or butcher bird. A few days ago I was in an orange grove a few rods from the house, where an old darky, with the assistance of a mule, was plowing, and a butcher bird was flying from tree to tree, following up the newly plowed furrow, looking for insects. Every few minutes he would go to pick up a beetle or insect, and for some time he simply swallowed his victims. After a little he seemed to have had enough to eat, and just then a little flock of larks were seen running along in the newly turned furrow, at times almost touching the old darky’s.heels. Now and then they would come across an insect too large for them to easily manage, and then would begin a little scufiie. Then the butcher bird would swoop down in the center of the little flock, snatch up the insect, and fly off with it before the larks knew what had happened. The butcher bird had eaten all he wanted, and so, with the

beetle in his beak, he flew to the nearest orange tree, and, selecting a long sharp thorn, he impaled the insect on it. I watched this bird put at least ten insects on different thorns. During an hour, besides numerous large insects, the butcher bird captured two snakes, the largest of which was two feet long, and very lively. These snakes although they squirmed and twisted, were taken with difficulty to an orange tree, and, after a good bit of hard tugging, they were left with a thorn through their bodies. When the butcher bird is not looking for food or for victims to stick on thorns, he is generally looking for other birds for the purpose of fighting them, and so he keeps busy from daylight till dark.