Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-04-17

~ u u ~
z \.
OF the birds that stay with us all win-
ter are the blue jay, chickadee, king
fisher, red bird, turtle dove, English
sparrow and the quail The robin has
a red breast and its tail and wings are
Of a dark brown color. The robin can
sing very nice, They build their nest
OF sticks and mud and line 1t with
grass. The robin usually builds Its
nest near some house. The robin lays
Tour blue eggs. They are a very useful
bird, as they eat insects which are de-
structtve to the farmers crops. For
this reason they should not be killed.
wren is another useful bird. It is
brown in color. The wren builds its
nest Of sticks and lines 1t with hairs.
they build 1t IN some building or In
bird house The wren lays five eggs
which are white and speckled with
brown. Like the robin they eat In
scots. The male black bird Is Of a
IL black IT does not have q glossy
color as the male. They build their
nest Of grass and In some tall tree in
the woods, The black. bird lays five
eggs, which are gray and speckled
with black. They eat insects and
grain The blue bird Is blue except it's
breast, which is of 9 yellowish brown
color. They build their nest In some
VACATED woodpecker's nest or in a
blue eggs. It eats insects. The oriole
Is black with yellowish red breast,
They build their nest on the end Of n
long branch Of some tall tree. They
weave the grass together and tie the
nest to the branch. The oriole eats
insects.
The king bird has sray breast and
ored. The king bird builds its nest
near some house. They are very good
to keep hawks away from poultry as
they do not like hawks. They are SO
much more active than a hawk that
they can drive them away very easily.
The king bird eats insects and some
kinds Of berries.
The lark is yellow and brown in
color. They build their nest Of grass
lark eats insects and weed seeds. The
red headed woodpecker has red
head, white breast and its wings and
tail are brown. For nest they bore
a hole In some dead tree and line 1t
with sticks. They lay Ave white eggs.
The red head eats insects that live
In trees and some kinds Of grain.
AZ ID UTOWIl CUlOEs
They sleep during the day and at
night they go about to hunt insects to
eat. When they sing they say, whip
poor-will, whip-poor-will,
The jay Is q very pretty bird, but Is
not as useful as the robin. It is blue
and white in color. The jay birds
builds its nest In some tall tree. They
build 1t OF sticks and mud and line it
with small roots. The jay bird lays
f7vo whit o. al
with black. They eat insects and
grain. The chickadee is not a pretty
bird. but 1t ID a very useful one. It's
color Is black with q little white On
its breast. The chickadee builds it's
nest In some hollow branch Of tree
or In some vacated woodpecker's nest.
They build 1t OF grass and line 1t with
are speckled with brown. The chick
adee eats nothing but insects.
The king fisher lives near some wa
ter, where there is fish, for small fish
is his chief diet. The king fishers
color Is blue and white, but there is
more blue about him than white. On
top Of his head he has q blue crest.
His beak is very large. He sits on
some low tree near the water and
1t and catches 1t IL he can. He keeps
this up until he has enough to eat
and If he has any little ones to feed he
feeds them. II he does not he sits on
some branch and sleeps until he Is
hungry again. The kingfsher builds
Its nest by making a hole about three
feet long in the river bank. It looks
more like the home Of some burrowing
animal than birds nest.
The red bird Is very beautiful bird
as we'll as a very useful one. 1t can
also sing very nice. The red bird is
a red in color with a. red crest on his
head. Some people catch them and
keep them for pets. The turtle dove
Is a very nice bird. Its color is dark
gray. They build their nest Of sticks
and in some low tree. The turtle dove
sects and grain. The English SPAR
row is a nuisance. They We're brought
from England. The people thought
they would eat insects, but on the con-
trary they eat grain and no insects.
The English sparrow builds It's nest
in some building or in bird house.
They build their nest of grass and line
it with feathers. The English SPAR
row lays five speckled eggs.
The quail is a game bird. Its color
is brown and white. They have more
brown about them than white. They
build their nest on the ground. The
quail lays from fifteen to twenty-five
eggs. They are nearly exterminat-
ed for as they are good to eat people
kill them. They are very useful
bird as they eat insects and they are
a friend of the farmer. / think birds
should not be killed or their nests de-
stroyed except those like the English
sparrow and the hawk or any bird
that drives useful birds away If 1t
was not for birds this world would, be
sad place and the insects would be-
come SO numerous that the farmer
could not raise anything. Instead Of
killing them people should try to get
as MANY birds to stay around their
house as possible.
John Belgard, aged IA.
Agency, Ia. r. F. d. No. 2.
os.@+4.a *+**s0
nIh1pNn