Show Birds That Nest in Utah ISoni Written for the Utah Independent by Harry Aldous NESTS AND EGGS OF SOME UTAH 1 Butcher 2 3 Vireo's 4 Yellow with I the 5 Humming 6 Western Chirping 7 Yellow 8 Long Tailed 9 Sage 11 12 Warbling 13 Western H Tule 15 that the Public Schools are nature a short the nesting habit's of of our song birds may be of Kt to nature The House e House Finch w also known beaded Linnet arrives in Iw in April and commence The nest is built r Wes and eaves of houses in our parks it is constructed of fet any old stuff the bird 1 The four or five are spotted on the th burnt amber and the eggs arrange in about of an The male bird is a beautiful singer and is heard during the day and as late as eight in evening singing from the tops of telephone poles and tall along our city the song is loud and This Finch can be identified by the bright reddish brown throat and The female is grayish Two broods are reared in a They eat seeds and The warbling Vireo is the only vireo that nests m his soft and flute-like warble is uttered at intervals as if the singer were out of breath-he then another sings a short short strain and so he comes early in May and nests in The nest is small and cup-shaped neatly constructed of bark weeds and pieces of paper and is woven together with spider webs and caterpillar's silk and often covered with It is suspended from the forks of tree branches and well concealed by the the four white eggs are sparely spotted with and average in size about of an inch only one brood is reared in a the vires are and belong to the family of fly in color this vireo is olive-green with a grayish white over the the under parts are yellowish The The Bobolink often called the rice bird or- reed bird rears two broods in Utah in a its song is too well known to need mention it resembles very closely the song of the English The Bobolink's nest is placed on the ground usually in a. slight depression and is concealed by the tall grass and as it is built entirely of grasses is very hard to in fact it is only found by flushing the The five or six in number are various shades of more or less spotted and blotched with buff and reddish brown markings and average in size about of an The young are fed entirely upon after the nesting season is over the male forgets his songs and changes bis bright black and white uniform for one the color ot the female which is a streaky and late in August they all migrate south where they visit the rice fields in They soon get fat and are then shot down and sold on the market in bunches under the name of reed The Yellow The Yellow Warbler also known as Summer Yellowbird and Wild arrives here early in May and is seen flitting about among the trees and bushes catching Nest building commences the last of the nest is built in trees and low bushes usually in the wild It is a beautiful little structure composed of vegetable fiber woven firmly together and lined with soft plant-down and feathers wool Is sometimes used for the nest The eggs are three or four in number and are spotted around the larger end with burnt amber and lilac-gray markings usually in the form of a wreath in size they are of an inch bird always nests in close vicinity to The song is a vigorous and oft-repeated only one brood is reared in a The young are fed on insect The The deposits its eggs in the nest of this the often called cow-bunting is a parasite and like the English Cuckoo builds no nest of its own but lays its eggs In the nests of other usually selecting the nests of smaller birds than The Cowbird is glossy greenish-black with brown head and and is a little smaller than our red-winged black its eggs are a dull spotted with lilac and brown in size they are about of an I have examined many nests of the yellow warbler during the past 10 years and have found 50 per cent of them to tain an egg of the but I have never seen the young of both birds in the nest after they were half grown at the same I have often found the rightful owners lying dead under the The young Cowbirds seem to grow the quickest and in some manner eject the young warblers out of the nest and thus receive all the care of the foster parents to The cowbird gets its name- from the habit of associating with cattle wherever a herd of cows are pasturing there will be found a flock of Cowbirds walking about among the cows They frequently alight on the backs of the it is supposed they feed on the insects harbored by the The The Catbird is another songbird that nests in he commences to build in May and rears two broods in a He is found in swamps and low The nest is built in thick tangle and low bushes and is made of strips of rootlets and often a cast off snake skin is woven into the the 3 to 5 in are bright emerald and average in size of an the young are fed on He is a sweet the song is soft and at times he changes this soft song to a series of loud whistles and mimicry of other birds in the This earns for him the name of Mockingbird his nest is It scolds and meows like a thence the name in color he is dark slaty tail and crown the coverts are bright he is about 9 inches in The Vesper The Vesper Sparrow also known as Grass Pinch and Bay Sparrow commence nesting in Utah early in the nest is placed on the ground usually at the root of some low bush or tall weed in open meadow and on the side hills east of Salt Lake the nest is made of grasses and fine rootlets and lined the 4 or 5 in are and blotched with average in size about of an inch two broods are reared in a this sparrow is a grayish streaked with dark brown and can be readily identified by the white outer tail feathers as it flies along the road sides close to the The Vesper Sparrow is so named from its habit of singing quite late into the the song is loud and a series of whistles usually given from the top of fence Mountain Song Another beautiful little song bird that nests in Utah is the Mountain Song Sparrow The song is a very close resemblance to the in color he is brown streaked with black and has a gray line in the center of the The throat and breast are light This songbird can be readily identified by the dark brown blotch in the center of the he arrives here early in March and commence building in the nest is placed in low bushes and on the It is made of of leaves and lined with horse The eggs of this bird vary more in size and markings than any other bird that nests' Typical specimens are bluish or greenish more or less spotted and blotched- with chestnut and lavender markings and are heaverly marked at the larger the average size is of an two broods' are in a they eat seeds and the young are fed almost entirely upon It seems to be a lost art for the Methodist or Presbyterian ministers to hold a convention or an assembly without landing on the Mormons with intent to do bodily In their frantic efforts to annihilate the believers in the Book of some wonderful stories are and some considerable of false witness' is indulged All of which makes among the Mormons very much of an uphill No douht it is such tactics that have made sectarian churches in Utah very much rg abandoned quartz mills in nothing of firing at from such long why Its meet soma common platform and before the weigh each faith in the We would like to listen to such a There could be no better chance for these ministers to prove to the Utah people the folly of their and the Latter Day Saints would also have an opportunity to prove to the world that this people is a righteous It seems to us that this plan is the best solution yet offered for this vexatious Let's have a Sevier Valley |