| Show v Out of Doors in the West Sketches of Natural History ia the Rocky Mountain Plateau I Edited by J. H. Professor of Nature Study in the University of Utah I. Nesting Habits of the Lazuli 1 By Harry Aldous II Notes on the Lark Bunting of the and be thy matin o'er moorland and of 1 if thy dwelling to abide in the desert with James Nest and Eggs of the W confutes the following valuable including a as to the nesting habits and er of one of the finest birds For what Walton said of the God could have a better but never the bird lover say of this exquisite little comes so close to us spring and stays all sum- The Teacup The lazuli commonly known as the blue headed arrives in Utah early in and soon commences to Both sexes share in the nest which they complete in four or five The nest about the size and shape of an ordinary is built of coarse sedge slender fine strips of bark and rootlets it is lined with dry grass and Some nests are heavily lined with after the manner of the western chipping The nest is placed in low bramble often only a foot above the when in the scrub oak it is from three to five feet Sometimes it is constructed in clumps of and and then it is suspended from the stems with no support from Some of the nests of this species are put together in a slovenly while others are real works of The Nesting The nesting site is usually near a stream of where there is always an abundance of ready for the young as soon as they are and it is astonishing how vast a quantity of small caterpillars the young ones will consume in a The four in are pale blue and or very rarely with a few light brown they average in size about to of an One brood only is reared in a season-in Incubation lasts ten and en days later the young leave the Dress During the nesting and while the female is incubating the the male makes frequent visits to the but his flight is so erratic that it would be difficult to follow him were it not for the peculiar quick twittering song which he It this song betrays him while making these repeated visits to the He makes these in order to bring insects to his mate and to cheer her with his This species is the sub species of the eastern the indigo but there is a great difference in the Our bird is inches in The male is readily recognized by his bright azure blue head and neck and blue slightly streaked writh reddish brown breast and white under He is a sweet and the canary- ike song is heard throughout the I iong summer day from some perch within the breeding like most other birds in the breeding he never rambles far from the The sparrow-like female is yellowish with light blue on the rump and she is streaked with brown has' two brownish white wing The female has no only a sharp Contends with This bunting is one of the many birds that the parasitic bird imposes' eggs upon for usually one eggs deposited in a Last summer the writer found a nest of bunting Parley's with a false bottom in under buried an eggs of the This egg must have deposited just before the was and the wise little bunting built a floor over it and then deposited a full set of four eggs of her which proved that for once the cowbird made a. mistake the first egg in the is a s' range and one repeatedly that when the deposits an egg the nest of this species there are never more than three eggs of the rightful but when no eggs are deposited the nest contains always a full set of i four eggs of the Roadsides and pastures lined with scrubby trees and bushes are the favorite summer haunts of the lazuli A Lyric in Before receiving the detailed description of the editor of these notes had sketched the following account of the and it may as well be added because this species is our prettiest It has a sextet and is so showily dressed has been aptly termed lyric in observes that this tie boy of the west is more beautiful than the indigo bird of he and proves his contention bythe following lazuli bunting wears a great of but it is and not covering the most of the upper and lining of as to give variety to the bird's the nape and back are and the and tail with Hut his plumage is still more for he bears a conspicuous white spot on the greater and his breast is daintily tinted with chestnut abruptly cut off from the blue of the while the remaining under parts are snowy Although the little husband is so elegant in his variegated the wife is soberly clad in warm slightly streaked with but she is likewise trig and and fully worthy of her more richly apparelled If you flush the little madam from her nest she will simply flit with chirp to the twigs and sit there quietly with a while the other important little well concealed among the will watch you from some safe hiding The Daintiest Take him for all in the daintiest bird of the west is the little called the lazuli The rich attire of the male renders him a perfect gem of and the small size of tho species conduces to the impression of loveliness which is irresistibly produced by the- first glimpse we get of the gem-like body as it flashes in the sunlight the top of a sage glints beside the yellow Dr gleams through the bushes when the pretty song of the male bird salutes the ear of the This pretty blue finch is a lit-le smaller than the house It is less demonstrative and less musical than the house The are not especially and with care you can approach and enjoy their song and coloring as they flit from weed to picking up seeds and The natural home of this blue brown breasted little bird is about such valleys as that of the Great Salt at the outskirts of the cities or in the shrubbery of the For several seasons I have watched them at the mouth of City Creek They are said to be found in similar places from Kansas to the Pacific and from British Columbia to It does not seem to to the higher ordinarily not above though a few have been found high up amid the pines and by the summer snow The song of the lazuli is a pleasing little usually warbled from the top of a small tree or and not that of the yellow Both seem to have about the of call that of the lazuli sounding like while that of the warbler is more This bird is not to be confused with the Rocky Mountain which is much is blue and almost wholly and of another family the lazuli is of the finch and sparrow the heavy seed The name of this headed is The is the name of an Italian blue The Lark The lark bunting is a rather f rare species with Years while in Tooele at near St. a black and white a delightful was pointed out to the writer as a While-it is possible that this what the bird it is likely that it was the black and white beauty shown in the illustration the lark i Rare in These birds are not widely distributed in Goodwin reports them as abundant only near Lake not far from the salt where he has many times found them This bunting is very probably because of i's conspicuous black and white They are very numerous in Texas and on some of the plains the but occasionally come Their habit is to feed on the and at any sound or motion they or dar into the Song and These birds are keeping together in flocks and The song of the flock is' that of the individual at breeding time rich and varied and uttered while on the As the flock migrates the birds utter a flight a peculiarly sweet given with cheery rising The bird is from to inches in In summer the adult male is black or except for a white patch on the wing and sometimes white marks on the tail feathers The Mother The female in SUmmer 11 ish brown streaked the white I wing restricted and tinged J 1 the except the middle is spotted with white-der parts are the breast and Then 1 sunk the under a bunch of weeds made of grass and fine 1 four or are a pale Goodwin observes the uninitiated these birds rM enough be mistaken for M They have not the l but they have the black and they have the 3 the entire- song has not a the bobolink lie M that he them breeding M the salt works on the and there made use of the young to bring out characteristics of the Whenever he would youngster and he would three or four of the ful males would circle and the giving of and then one or would fly from him and flight The care under such seemed to devolve entirely the male as only onH the course of a half mother bird show then she was at a distance seemed not to concern the least about the This is the American perhaps in that of the the subject of Shelley than all Of delightful Better than all treasures That in books are Thy skill to poet scorner of the ground Oh come into the And sit beneath the And see me prance Dressed in my Sunday cM Oh come and bring Your sisters and your And tell them Johnson nM My waistcoat and my |
