The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-07-11


one of the most interesting Of Profess
sor Goodwin's valued addresses before
the nature study classes at the univer-
sity was the one I'm which he dealt with
those species that appeal most power
fully to the sentiments and imagination
of young-the gentle doves. the bold
hawks and eagles, and the wise owls.
Especially important was the profess
sor's clear demonstration of the great
usefulness of practically all of these
birds and the folly Of killing the mourn
ing dove, the marsh hawk and the owls.
Every farmer, every teacher and every
sportsman should know these facts.
Farewell to Wild Pigeons.
I'm the eleventh order are placed the
pigeons and doves (COlumbae). These
are walking birds with stout feet; they
feed both on the ground and in trees.
IN earlier times, the passenger pigeon
was present in the United States in
countless numbers; and ] can remember
as a boy seeing vast fiOCks Of them in
southern Michigan. In the fall, when
migrating southwark, they would often
drop down ON a field of newly sOWn
wheat, especially if the field happened
10 be near the timber and practically
take every bit of the grain. This form
has been eXteTminated by the persist
ent trapping and hunting on the part
of those who would take whatever they
want regardless Of future generations.
So far as records go. none of these
pigeons have been seen in Utah.
The Mourning Dove.
The common representative of this
family and order is the well known and
widely distributed mourning dove. These
birds appear to be in every portion of
the state, though not numerous any
where.
After riding sixty-fve miles over
sCorching desert and difficult trails
from Bluff 10 the natural bridgeS-last
summer, / was delighted to hear, near
the Edwin bridge, the unmistakable
whistle" of the wings of this Species
and a little later, and on the two days
following, when in White canyon, and
when resting beneath the massive arch
Of the Caroline bridge, the mournful
cooling of this dove came to me as
though it were the spirit of the extinct
race whose memorials were about me.
Our Unwlse Legislation.
This highly useful bird is the one
which our late legislature, in its mani
fold wisdom land having only the high
est interests Of the people at heart,
would eXterminate. Twenty-Five birds
may be lawfully taken by any one who
happens to have a gun from Aug. Is till
the birds leave the state. The date spe-
Gifted, by the way, is some weeks earlier
than the close of the nesting season of
this species, so that the man who shoots
twenty-five of these birds in a day may
have the satisfaction of knowing that
he has certainly been responsible for
starving to death some Of these nest
lings
Doves Are Useful.
Further. the hunter may be assured
Of the fact that in killing the mourning
dove he is destroying one of the most
efficient 6estroyers Of weed seed in the
state There is no other bird that does
as much in this direction as the dove.
This fact has been appreciated in TWEEN
ty-two states, and in those common
wealths no open season is allowed. The
pleasure of killing and the small
amount Of food secured by killing these
harmless and most beneficial birds, they
considered, evidently, more than offset
by the service rendered by the live bird.
The mourning dove is a slow breeder.
While two brOOds are reared in a sea-
son, only two eggs are laid, so that the
services of an even dozen of these birds
days sport for one of our NimrOds, and
the birds killed would be worth more
10 the farm and orchard and garden
than the labOrs Of three such men. But,
of course, our hunters must hunt-let
the weeds take care of themselves-and
our legislature must do something-must
make a record, though in so doing it
strikes at the interests of the people.
The "Robber" Birds.
XIL-We come now. in the twelfth or
der to the birds that have a reputation
for doing harm, when they-or most of
them-are really rendering most valua-
bic services. The very name of the or
Raptores-meaning "robber," OF
'plunderer,' shows in what estimation
the birds Of this group have been held.
But why should they be so stigmatized?
Is it because they take mammals and
other biTds2 But there are water birds
that eat snakes and frogs and tOads,
and other birds and they are not thus
characterized. Every insectivOrOUs bird
destroys life when it feeds; men take
life when they want food of certain
kinds; yet neither the insectivorous bird
nor man is stigmatiZed as a "rObber'
and 'piunderer' for doing such work.
You may say; But the birds of this
order destroy useful life" So do in
sectivorous birds, and so does man.
However the fact remains, these birds
have borne a bad name through all the
years, and have suffered severeIy-and,
in the main, unjustly. Tor it. Not till
the early nineties. however. was il
known, beyond the possibility Of a rea-
sonable doubt. how useful these much
maligned and prosecuted birds really
were, and are. Then our government
published the results of the investiga-
tons made by certain OF its experts in
this direction. The evidence that had
been wanting through the years was
supplied, and the birds Of this group
were exo@erated from many unjust
charges that had been laid at their
doors
The Turkey Venture.
OF the four families comprising this
order. three are represented in Utah.
For convenience. these may be CLASH !
fed as vultuTes. hawks and owls
1.-Of the vultures we have what is
known as the turkey vulture, or buzz
yard II is to bo f0vn1 in different