Show toi Doors in the West Natural History in the Rocky Mountain Plateau J- f ln of Utah jj The Bird of the Poets The Beautiful Dove 4 that nearly every girl who may read this has already seen and Ms the mourning It is M our prettiest and has written about in many many We shall r it here in order to observe The boy or girl state correctly several points or facts concern- mk knows something Bae to the farmer and of to the writer or let us pay close Son to what the book says then watch the dove in prove that these points given and to find AKers that the book does not M ever noticed the of the Have how quickly it its course in you heard the sound of the as they cleave the a hiss like that of a you noted the fc-like tail that is spread out white-edged fan to act as when the bird K you observed how the tail of fourteen as long as is tapered or graduated jl center and spotted with Have you noted the coloring in parts and and with Rack spot on the All f points and others you can a field and can out with the naked If you have ever traveled the desert lands of Where only the sage rabbit the the salt bushes and and where ls no water for miles and you still see the mourning fc and may even find their ron the ground beneath a th's dry or arid i How do you suppose these desert doves get Twice each day they fly some spring or little If you were lost on the desert and perishing for what would you do if any mourning doves could be THE NEST AND THE It was a week later than the date when our unwise state law permits the killing of the mourning dove In a pasture just east the town of where sage brush and grease wood are yet I was walking on August when a large bird flew from one of the bushes not two steps in front of It was a mourning which is a strong but this time the bird did not seem to fly she dropped to the ground and flopped along as if her wing were the pretty white fan-tail showing plainly as did It was the mother bird whom I had surprised on the and she was using this device to follow her to induce me her treasures in the and so leave nest undisturbed and At first I thought to reassure the anxious mother by walking after but curios-ity to see the nest and its contents caused mc to examine the bush from which she had And what do you think I Two pretty gray with their baby their on first coat of gray lying cuddled few sticks strewn on just a on the bare Their eyes were and there they as I as I stooped for awhile to watch and admire Helpless bird babies in that frail who could have harmed After a good I walked so that the fond mother might return at once to feed and warm for night was and the heat of the day was changing into the coolness of How anxious the parent birds were to and how alarmed they must have been as they saw ine bending down over the bush that sheltered their little When I looked up and saw the fly over the the words' of the poet Mackay came to my with lad- The Dove cn with Fly to thy home beautiful SONG OF THE The doves returned presently to the nest and found everything as they had left the nestlings and not a twig A little later a flute-like call came across the field coo too It was the love song of the happy again by her Have you ever heard the cooing of the gentle mourning If you you will always remember it and will long to hear it again and David the psalmist loved to hear the voice of the in his description of the which he likened to the rock dove of he used what the writers say is some of the purest imagery of exquisite Here are David's that art in the cleft of the in the covert of the steep let me see thy let me thy t voice for sweet is thy and thy countenance is Knowledge of has been a source of inspiration to nearly all of the gifted and they have used it as the most delicate medium for the refined expression of love and The dove-imagery used by Biblical writers has been the model subsequent voice of the turtle is heard in our wrote in his beautiful spring for he knew well that return of the turtle cloves from the south and their abundant presence thereafter on every tree and over the fields of was the sure sign of a poet of ancient thus describes the of the ring-dove's voice from a wood was heard unseen to f The ring-dove imbued with Isaiah's de- of the flight of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's surpassing love letter contains th's exquisite as doves to their so do my thoughts fly to DO NOT KILL THE when the writer was a small He went with a hunter into a hollow in the suburbs of the in the month of The hunter killed several In one instance he shot the mother-bird on the and helped me to climb the tree to ee the two pure white and glossy eggs on which she had been Since then I have dis- liked those who kill and especially those who kill them at such a before that the nestlings will Our law the killing of these birds after August is entirely October would be early if any people x wish to get doves for But there is a still better The mourning dove should not be killed at it is one of the farmer's best What is it that gives the farmer so much work and causes the loss of so many of his Everyone knows that it is A poet bas told us so well the truth about weed seeds that we shall hear was only a seed that downy and tiny And few that saw it could tell an evil and pestilent weed Would spring from that little With power to spread at the I Till it chocked out all blossoms of And cut off all promise of DOVES KEEP DOWN THE Who has not wished for some easier method of destroying weeds than by Nature has provided us with an easier the mourning dove is the great weed Doves eat some mostly gleaned after the and only in July and They feed principally upon weed they eat in all months of the In the stomach of one dove seeds were none of them being those of useful Three doves whose stomach were examined had thus destroyed weed Is there a farmer in this land who would not welcome as a the man who would offer to uproot and kill Yet because the doves go about and and make no loud boasts about the good are they are thought of little or no In many sections of the country this and gentle creature is considered as a game bird and is shot during a large part of the It is a question for the farmers settle whether or not they permit anyone to kill on their land birds that annually destroy tons of the seeds of pigeon and many other noxious and are thus worth so much as helpers on The president of the Audubon Society-says the matter resolves itself into a question of dollars and cents to the three doves at one meal destroy weed and thus prevent the growth of the same number of prospective how much good will all the doves on a farm or in a or in the country at large present the case in another how much will it cost in and actual to destroy what the doves will eat if they are protected and encouraged to remain on the The farmers in the United States spent in 1899 the enormous sum of for how much of this was paid for killing and how much of it could have been saved if no coves had been killed but all had been protected and permitted to perform the work that the Creator designed them The dove is far too valuable an auxiliary to the agriculturists to have it classed as a game Its value consists in its weed-destroying and not in the few ounces of food it may furnish if shot as a game How many in this class now vote for this that it is a mistake and also a wrong to kill mourning at any time of the All that favor this resolution may state some reason why cloves should not be destroyed even frightened |