Show Out of Doors in the West Sketches of Natural History in the Rocky Mountain Plateau Edited by J. H. Professor of Nature Study in the University of Utah Nesting Habits of Some of Utah's Song Birds Written for The Utah Independent by Harry Aldous THE SPURRED This species is so named from the fact that its claws are enormously more so than in any other member of the tow-hee The Nest and The nest is neatly made of coarse bark and lined with slender stems of dry The four grayish-white eggs are irregularly spotted with rich reddish brown and chiefly at the larger some 1 Nest and Eggs of 2 Of Black-Headed Grosbeak 3 Of Spurred Towhee The spurred also known as ground and arrives Utah early in and soon commences' to The nest contains its full complement about the middle of It is built on the ground in s slight scratched out for and is placed at the root of a small bush or tall mens are densely spotted over the entire surface so as to give the egg an entirely reddish while others closely resemble the eggs of the both in size and Typical specimens are and average in size about of an Two broods are raised in a season in incubation lasts fourteen A favorite nesting site for this towhee is along the dry side hills in Parley's This is a good locality for the In lower lands I have found many nests that were built on damp ground and some of these contained just on a second a few days I have found some undoubtedly the work of the common snakes which are frequently encountered in close proximity to the This towhee is readily identified by his black head and black and white bright chestnut white under and black tail with outer He is about inches in The female is much the only dark brown replaces the black of the Song and He utters some very peculiar which sound like the word and again hence the common The song is fairly and is clear and During the nesting season and while the female is on the male sings for many minutes at a time from the top of some favorite tree or tall but in the vicinity of the nest he is I watched a pair of these tow-hees one day last year through my field and saw them make over fifty trips to the nest in two each time with either a small gray moth or green which they found by scratching among the leaves on the |