According to Ehrlich, Dobkin, and Wheye (1988),   "The name shrike has the same Anglo-Saxon roots as "shriek". Shrikes have heads that are larger in proportion to their bodies than most birds, and this is noted in Loggerhead, which has the same origins as "blockhead". The generic name of the shrikes, Lanius is Latin for "butcher" (and shrikes are often termed "butcherbirds"). The Northern Shrike, Lanius excubitor was given its trivial name, the Latin word for "sentinel" by Linnaeus, who thought the bird looked out for hawks and warned little birds. Actually, of course, an erect stationary shrike is looking for little birds or insects, but not to warn them. The trivial name of the Loggerhead, ludovicianus means "of Loouisiana" in Latin."