CHAPTER XIX.
THE SHRIKE AND THE HUMMING-BIRDS
The picturesque scenery of the Elk appeared to be a favourite resortwith the feathered creation. Here our voyageurs saw many kinds of birds;both those that migrate into the fur countries during summer, and thosethat make their home there in the cold, dark days of winter. Among theformer were observed--the beautiful blue bird of Wilson which, onaccount of its gentle and innocent habits, is quite as much esteemed inAmerica as the "robin" in England.
Another favourite of the farmer and the homestead, the purple martin,was seen gracefully wheeling through the air; while, among the greenleaves, fluttered many brilliant birds. The "cardinal grosbeak" with hisbright scarlet wings; the blue jay, noisy and chattering; the rarer"crossbill" with its deep crimson colour; and many others, equallybright and beautiful, enlivened the woods, either with their voice ortheir gaudy plumage.
There was one bird, however, that had neither "fine feathers" nor anagreeable voice, but that interested our travellers more than any of theothers. Its voice was unpleasant to the ear, and sounded more like thegrating of a rusty hinge than anything else they could think of. Thebird itself was not larger than a thrush, of a light grey colour above,white underneath, and with blackish wings. Its bill resembled that ofthe hawks, but its legs were more like those of the woodpecker tribe;and it seemed, in fact, to be a cross between the two. It was neitherthe colour of the bird, nor its form, nor yet its song, that interestedour travellers, but its singular habits; and these they had a fineopportunity of observing at one of their "noon camps," where they hadhalted to rest and refresh themselves during the hot mid-day hours. Theplace was on one of the little islets, which was covered with underwood,with here and there some larger trees. The underwood bushes were ofvarious sorts; but close to the spot where they had landed was a largethicket of honeysuckle, whose flowers were in full bloom, and filled theair with their sweet perfume.
While seated near these, Francois' quick eye detected the presence ofsome very small birds moving among the blossoms. They were at oncepronounced to be humming-birds, and of that species known as the"ruby-throats" so called, because a flake of a beautiful vinous colourunder the throat of the males exhibits, in the sun, all the glancingglories of the ruby. The back, or upper parts, are of a gilded greencolour; and the little creature is the smallest bird that migrates intothe fur countries, with one exception, and that is a bird of the samegenus--the "cinnamon humming-bird." The latter, however, has been seenin the Northern regions, only on the western side of the RockyMountains; but then it has been observed even as far north as the bleakand inhospitable shores of Nootka Sound. Mexico, and the tropicalcountries of America, are the favourite home of the humming-birds; andit was, for a long time, supposed that the "ruby-throats" were the onlyones that migrated farther north than the territory of Mexico itself. Itis now known, that besides the "cinnamon humming-bird," two or threeother species annually make an excursion into higher latitudes.
The "ruby-throats" not only travel into the fur countries, but breed innumbers upon the Elk River, the very place where our travellers nowobserved them.
As they sat watching these little creatures, for there were several ofthem skipping about and poising themselves opposite the flowers, theattention of all was attracted to the movements of a far different sortof bird. It was that one we have been speaking of. It was seated upon atree, not far from the honeysuckles; but every now and then it wouldspring from its perch, dash forward, and after whirring about for somemoments among the humming-birds fly back to the same tree.
At first the boys watched these manoeuvres without having their curiosityexcited. It was no new thing to see birds acting in this manner. Thejays, and many other birds of the fly-catching kind have this habit, andnothing was thought of it at the moment. Lucien, however, who hadwatched the bird more narrowly, presently declared to the rest that itwas catching the humming-birds, and preying upon them--that each time itmade a dash among the honeysuckles, it carried off one in its claws, thesmallness of the victim having prevented them at first from noticingthis fact. They all now watched it more closely than before, and weresoon satisfied of the truth of Lucien's assertion, as they saw it seizeone of the ruby-throats in the very act of entering the corolla of aflower.
This excited the indignation of Francois, who immediately took up his"double-barrel," and proceeded towards the tree where the bird, asbefore, had carried this last victim. The tree was a low one, of thelocust or _pseud-acacia_ family, and covered all over with great thornyspikes, like all trees of that tribe. Francois paid no attention tothis; but, keeping under shelter of the underwood, he crept forwarduntil within shot. Then raising his gun, he took aim, and pullingtrigger, brought the bird fluttering down through the branches. Hestepped forward and picked it up--not that he cared for such unworthygame, but Lucien had called to him to do so, as the naturalist wished tomake an examination of the creature.
He was about turning to go back to camp, when he chanced to glance hiseye up into the locust-tree. There it was riveted by a sight whichcaused him to cry out with astonishment. His cry brought the restrunning up to the spot, and they were not less astonished than he, whenthey saw the cause of it. I have said that the branches of the tree werecovered with long thorny spikes that pointed in every direction; but onebranch in particular occupied their attention. Upon this there was abouta dozen of these spikes pointing upward, and upon each spike _wasimpaled a ruby-throat_!
The little creatures were dead, of course, but they were neither tornnor even much ruffled in their plumage. They were all placed backupwards, and as neatly spitted upon the thorns as if they had been putthere by human hands. On looking more closely it was discovered thatother creatures as well as the humming-birds, had been served in asimilar manner. Several grasshoppers, spiders, and some coleopterousinsects were found, and upon another branch two small meadow-mice hadbeen treated to the same terrible death.
To Basil, Norman, and Francois, the thing was quite inexplicable, butLucien understood well enough what it meant. All these creatures, heinformed them, were placed there by the bird which Francois had shot,and which was no other than the "shrike" or "butcher-bird"--a name bywhich it is more familiarly known, and which it receives from the veryhabit they had just observed. Why it follows such a practice Luciencould not tell, as naturalists are not agreed upon this point. Some haveasserted that it spits the spiders and other insects for the purpose ofattracting nearer the small birds upon which it preys; but this cannotbe true, for it preys mostly upon birds that are not insect-eaters, asthe finches: besides, it is itself as fond of eating grasshoppers asanything else, and consumes large quantities of these insects.
The most probable explanation of the singular and apparently cruel habitof the butcher-bird is, that it merely places its victims upon thethorns, in order to keep them safe from ground-ants, rats, mice,raccoons, foxes, and other preying creatures--just as a good cook wouldhang up her meat or game in the larder to prevent the cats from carryingit off. The thorny tree thus becomes the storehouse of the shrike, wherehe hangs up his superfluous spoil for future use, just as the crows,magpies and jays, make their secret deposits in chinks of walls and thehollows of trees. It is no argument against this theory, that theshrike sometimes leaves these stores without returning to them. The fox,and dog, as well as many other preying creatures have the same habit.
Wondering at what they had seen, the voyageurs returned to their camp,and once more embarked on their journey.