Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-07-04

yellow margined heavily. above, ana
narrowly. below, with dark brown
rrhe prevailing color is pale DroWh-
ish yellow with a grayish tlnSe'
The writer's observations lead nun
to believe that this little bird hNes az
most wholly on grass ana weed seeu,
and though the specimens he procured
yycre an taken from the brushy mar
Gins of wheat fields, the stomach OF
onIy one contained grain-two oat
soedi About one third of It's susten-
,nce Is animal food consisting OF
Young gtasshoppers, cur worms, army
worms. crane flies, white grubS, Ioct
borers. snout beetles, weeyils' leaf
beetles. wasps and bugs Whenever
thcv come within it's notice, it alsD
slays root maggots, cabbage worms
and cucumber beetles. In considera-
ton of this great utility to man. 1t Is
necessary only to say that the song
of this bird is so delicious. and our
Utah singers arc so pestcred by the
English sparrow, that this tiny species
ought fully TO be protected.
RED BACKED sNowBIRD.
Go IN into the thick pine woods of
some canyon of the Wasatch; anu.
oven though It be a warm spring day,
Won will see the red backed snow
birds preparing their nests. In win
ter. they descend to our valleys IN
, great focks. shaking the seed from
tall weeds and filling the air with
their simple trills. They are some
what smaller than our English spar
rows and have yellowish bills with
black tips. Their heads, necks. backs
and sides are ashy color, while their
under parts are white. There are
triangular patches of chestnut brown
on the backs of their necks. and the
outer tail feathers are white.
1t is unnecessary to praise these lit
tie birds, as anyone who watches
flock for an hour soon becomes CON
WINGED that they must destroy even
tons of weed seed in a year.
Even though their great numbers are
an attraction for any lad with shot
gun, they, nevertheless, ought to
work In happiness, undisturbed.
BLACK HEADED GRosBEAII.
The black headed grosbeak is one
Of Utah's handsomest birds; but It 10
not common enough TO be very well
known. IT is a member of the finch
family. with a thick heavy bill; and
IT is not quite so large as q robin
chin back, wings and tail are all
black; but collar around its neck.
It's rump and under parts are brown
ish- orange, almost light cinnamon.
The under parts of It's wings are yei-
low and the under surface OF it's tail
together with the tips of its primary
, wing feathers, are white. The female
is lighter, having more whitlsh and
lemon tints.
The song of this bird is melodious.
varied hightoned and fascinating. hay
ing an ending of exquisite sadness.
once heard. II can never be forgotten
The farmer can III afford to shoot the
black headed grosbeak as it often
saves whole potato fields by it's de-
struction of the Colorado potato bee.
tle The scale question. too. is set
lied, once for all by the grosbeak ns
there is certainly no doubt that IL eats
the frosted scale (Eulecanium pruinos-
um) which attacks apricot, peach.
prune and cherry trees, and the apri-
cot scale (eulecanium armcniacum).
which Is deloterlous to prune, apricot
and pear orchards. The black headed
srosbeak ~ 50 useful ANA beauti-
fu'' and its song so delightful that II
ought never 10 be killed even when the
object rs to adorn ladies hats with ms
variegated feathers.
THE NORTHERN WAXWING.
The Northern Waxwlng. sometimes