The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-06-20

r,,s sscond lecture Of Professor Good !
before the nature classes at the
.N..--f,arsitv this season dealt with the
,--lter birds. He spoke, in part, as fol-
lows. 100. o-dars
In the systematic classification Of
,s-5s those which live upon and about
1-ster are placed first, because among
-, are TO be found the lowest type Of
80 life Even a casual study of our
--.tar birds must convince the student
- thew are. comparatively. less intel
Iigart. less emotional, less attractive IN
Inn sabit and manner Of life than
he birds of the roadside, the garden,
10 field. the canyon and the mountain.
The repulsive and intollerable condition
81 +be home life of many Of these forms,
~ uprve-racking, ear-splitting screech-
~ or demOniac laughter of others, and
~ absence of all Of those finer sensi-
brities which help to make the life Of
higher forms so attractive to us-these,
a-d other characteristics. accord per-
FsrrIv with their low organization, and
Lave no room to question their place in
the scale of bird life.
Contrast With Song-Birds.
} a
ton of what is meant, visit a rookery
,-Fera gulls, or cormorants. or pelicans,
mr. herons rear their young and COM
are with the conditions you find there,
HE dainty nest and habits of a gold
frrh. a summer warbler, or d bluebird;
mr. contrast the din and clamor arising
from the rookeries mentioned with the
strong. clear calls OF the meadowlark,
or the robin-like, uplifting music of the
bIack-headed grosbeak, or the heaven
lv melody of the willow, and the hermit
thrush as il reaches you from the banks
of the tumbling torrent or falls upon
YOUR ear like a benediction, from the
steep. spruce-cCvered sides of the moce
remote canyons.
Ne shall begin at the bottom-with
the lowest forms-and gradually make
our way to the highest; to the bird life
that stands at the top Of the scale.
The Divers.
The divers. or the "rump-fOoted
birds. as the scientific name (Pygo-
modest has it. These birds are so called
because the legs are set so far back
that they seem almost to take place Of
the tail. which. by the way, you OBJ
serve is decidedly rudimentary. In con-
sentence of this placing of the legs Sc
far back on the body, these birds are
never at home on the land, and even
their nests are built upon the water
On floating masses of rushes or tules
sometimes attached to reeds that stand
in the water.
of the three families belonging to
his order two are represented IN Utah
waters.
The first of these is the grebes
Podiciuedidae). OF this family we have
FOUR species: the western, the horned
the cared and the pied-billed- The men,
beers of this family may be known by
The absence of a tail. and by the lobed
OF margiued, tOes-i, e., not fully
webbed like the duck, for example.
The Western Grebe.
OF the grebes. which are the most eX
pert of divers-the one most likely to bt
seen. because il is the most widely dis
tributed and the most common, is III,
western. or the spear-bill. The sclen
tihc name Of this species is made up o.
two Greeks words, which mean spear
bearing" and if you ever have occasion
10 handle one of these birds when il j.
in captivity, or is wounded. you vii
not question the appropriateness OF thi
name
have found these birds far out OF
Utah lake, moving gracefully over II
CLASSY surface with no apparent eff
fort-like a stately craft from som
mysterious land-and disappearing Il
the twinkling Of an eye, as thong
drawn beneath by unseen hands. Il
the sIOughs of Bear river these bird
abound. and there I have found theE
breeding and caring for their chicks ]
the most delightful manner. Last yea
we did not find so many grebvs In tn
locality named as were present tw
years before On the earlier Occasio
the parent birds were frequently me
with towing their little ones to place
Of safety. The young were Of differen
sizes and we could row up to then
slide a hand under their trim Httl
mouse-colored bodies and flip ther
into the boat. Once out Of the waite