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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 1955)
Is That So? When autumn leaves have fallen . and branches are bare, birds' nests are often revealed to plain view. Then is the time to study these nests and in the studying realize how each spe cies has its own inherent in stinct to locate its nest in cer tain areas and to build it m a certain way with very special materials. And in this, exper ience and age have little if any effect. Some birds locate their nests within the ground, in burrows; others make them on the bare ground or atop water; many place them in shrubbery plants; and several place them high in treetops or inaccessible cliffs. Anions burrowers are the owls, some of which build their nest in abandoned prairie dog holes. The northern puffin ap propriates rabbit burrows or ex cavates a short tunnel of its own. Belted kingfishers and banl; swallows dig out deep horizontal tunnels the kingfishers often extending ten feet. Some ground-nesting birds like the whippoorwill and night hawk build no nest they simply lav their eees on the bare ground. The killdeer and tern at least make a feeble try at a nest they scoop out a little de uression on the ground to keep the eees from rolling out. But another problem is presented to the Emperor penguin. It breeds on the Antarctic ice shelf during the long winter night when tem peratures may fall to 70 below. With nesting materials unavaiK able, the adults stand on the ice and hold their egg off the ice on the web of the foot with a fold of skin from the abdomen en veloping the egg to keep it warm. Floating Raft of Weeds Water-dwelling birds, like the pied-bill grebe make a large floating raft of reeds. One of the long-toed jacunas, known as the water trotter, does it more sim ply it lays its four eggs on a broad lily pad and should the next be submerged, simply takes the eggs up under its wings, As for those birds which take to the shrubs and trees, they too may be careful of highly in different builders. The fairy tern simply balances it single egg precariously on the branch of a tree with no material whatever to hold it. The robin rests a secur home of mud and grass in the crotching branches of a tree. The barn swallow attaches its nest to a cliff or wall under the eave of a building. While one of the most elaborate of builders, the weaver bird, suspends a corn- J p BURGESS PAINT & WALLPAPER STORE ; Comer 6th t Holly, Diagonally Across from tho Post Office We Give S&H Green Stamps PHONE 2-9321 "Let Us Recommend a Reliable Painter" Investments made by the 10th of the month earn divi dends ae of the First. At NT WITH I By IUGENE BURNS Ranger-Naturalist plicated cradle from a limb which has been woven, in and out, and even knotted. Diverse as locations may be, the appearance of these nests is even more varied. You'll find types from the swinging basket of the oriole to the open-air platform of the bald eagle; from the excavated tree trunk of the woodpecker to the spherical mass of green moss of the Amer ican dipper tucked into a crevice over a swift-flowing stream; from the nine-pound hard-baked clay nest of the thrush-sized South American oven bird to the tiny walnut-sized nest of the hummingbird. Of cunningly-fashioned nests there is no end, one of the best being that of the tailor-bird. Em ploying his beak as a needle, he sews together with fibers or silk threads from a caterpillar's co coon the edges of leaves to make an envelope in which he places his nest. Building materials used for the exterior of nests are most di verse. Although some may use mud, others demand vegetable f ibers or feathers and hair is one of the prime mgredients. Of 794 nests studied at the University of California, 622 contained hair. Along with this, special species - make special . demands. A duck uses rushes; a flower pecker, spider webs and down from seedpods. An oriole, horse hair and it searches far afield to find it. A barn owl uses bones from dissected pellets of its 'prey. A kingfisher uses fishbones and regurgitated scales. A ruby throated hummingbird uses bud scales, lichen and ties it up with spider webbing. ' Some Feather Nesis Although some birds like the osprey may leave the interiors of their nests bare and hard, others like the goose, duck and swan feather them with specially-grown down plucked from their own bodies. The American goldfinch uses thistledown and when it cannot find it, often dis mantles nests of its own and other species to get it. The hum mingbird, appropriately, ' lines his with chestnut-burr down as fine as silk. And the crested fly catcher may go far afield to find a castoff snakeskin to deco rate its doorway. . But once you find it even in the fall when it seems aban doned, do not destroy this deli cate handiwork: a crow's nest may serve a hawk next year, and the year following, a horned owl. A bald eagle may rescue its nest for 35 years, until the heavy accumulation,, may crash to earth. And often the thistle down lined nest of the goldfinch may be remodeled by a deer mouse for a winter nest of its own. .. (Released by , McClure Newspaper Syndicate) (Copyright, 1955, by Eugene Burns) Free: By special arrangement with the editors of the Encyclo pedia Americana, my panel' of judges will award each week to the reader who sends me the best START YOUR SAVINGS ACCOUNT NOW INVEST REGULARLY EVERY PAYDAY IN AN INSURED SAVINGS ACCOUNT Insured to $10,000 by The Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation " . . Your Savings Will Earn Dividends, Too! . Come In Today Investigate Discover how you will profit with regular investment in a First Federal account. START YOUR SAVINGS PLAN NOW FIRST FEDERAL Savings & Loan Assn. of Medford 27 North Holly Telephone 2-91 47 Shady Cove Fire Hal! Work Begins Shady Cove-Trail Construc tion of a new fire hall in Shady Cove got under way last week. according to Ray Briggs, chair man of the building committee, The work of pouring the concrete foundations was finished on Thursday, and work , is . now going ahead as fast as volunteer labor will permit. The site of the new structure is on the Mobile Service property which is being furnished by M. M. Huggins, Mobile distribu tor for the Medford area, and will house the fire equipment of the recently organized Shady Cove-Trail Rural Fire district. The volunteer labor is fur nished by those residing within the area which will be served by the district So far, few have showed up to work, and an appeal is now made for all help possible in order that the build ing may be completed before rainy weather sets in. Anyone who can work is "urged to con tact Ray Briggs at the Advance Plumbing shop or Roy Long of Long's Valley supply, stating the exact time they will be avail able. According to Fire Chief Athel Dudley, the new fire hall will furnish a meeting place for vol unteer firemen. Drills will be held in the use and operation of the fire-fighting equipment. Seedlings Available from State Nursery Salem (U.R) More than 7,000,000 seedlings will be av ailable to Oregon tree planters from the State Forestry depart ment nursery at Corvallis in the 1955-56 seasons, Nursery ' Super intendent Vern E. McDaniel said Saturday. - This includes 2,250,000 trees that have been set aside for the farmers who desire to establish windbreaks, shelterbelts,! or woodlands. ' The small two-year-old seed lings are also available to plant on cutover or denuded forest lands, to the 4-H Forest clubs, Boy or Girl Scouts, service clubs and other organizations. McDan iel said a special item included 250,000 fir trees-produced spe cifically for the Izaak Walton league from seed provided by that organization. Court Records POLICE COURT Franklin Irwin Brown, no ODerator's license, $3; violation of basic rule. $10; excessive noise. $10; excessive noise, $15. Marearite B. Collins, failure to yield rignt of way, sio. DISTRICT COURT Gerald Dwayne Green, no mud guards, $10. ranR Sidney Lewis, overload. io William Elmer Han, violation ol basic rule. S20. Thomas Jason Ward, overload. S10. Clifiord William Mynatt. overload, S28S (bail). Hugh Maurice Curtiss. inadequate mufiler. S13. Milton Leroy Anderson, overload, $129. Dean Richard Chamberlain, over load. $62. MARRIAGE LICENSE APPLICATIONS Richard Lee Wooton, 20. of 1314 South Peach St., Medford. and Marilyn von der Hellen, 17, of 925 Newtown St.. Medford. true-life nature adventure, the best nature observation, or the best question on nature and wild life, a complete 30-volume set of this world-famous reference work in a handsome Sealcraft binding. Each week new sub missions will be considered. Sorry, I simply can't answer your many friendly letters. Please address your letter to: IS THAT SO! co Medford Mail Tribune, Box 575, .Sausalito, Calif. mw . CONTENTEDLY DRINKING MILK, baby Robert Marcus is ready to go home after undergoing checkup at Mt Zion Hos pital, San Francisco, which revealed he was in good health despite being kidnaped shortly after birth. (International) OPEN HOUSE Hillsboro, N.' D (U.R) A burglar ransacked the Hovet Im plement company here recently, scattered papers over the floor and left w?th some $80. Owner John Hovet discovered , a note wmrnm left behind by the intruder, which said: "Next time keep your safe and back door locked. Ha. ha!" , ". ' Dead line Sunday Classified is at noon Saturday: 10 a.m Monday for Monday: other days 5:30 oreviousday. There aren't always mothers wmmmm j 51 ' - ' Jky- 7 jnmt 1 1' wmr vbMvtc ,-f""nrf wrm'l'l Give Generously LMlow to the Sunday, October 2, 1955 Fescue Growers Vote Approval of Commission Setup Salem (U.R) Oregon grow ers, of creeping and red fescue seeds voted more than 5 to 1 to create a commodity commission for their product in the referen dum conducted last week, J. F. Short,, state director of agricult ture said Saturday. The vote statewide was 156 for the commission; 27 against. Above Requirements .. Tonnage represented in the. fa vorable vote wsas 3,658,225 pounds, or more than the requir ed one-third of the 10,145,000 Most Fatal Highway ' Mishaps Occur at Night Salem (U.R) More than half of Oregon's fatal traffic ac cidents take place at night when there are considerably fewer cars on the road in daylight, an alysis of reports submitted to the state traffic safety division disclosure. " ' Of the 359 fatal smash- ups reported last year, 188 took place after nightfall and 79 of the 152 traffic fatalities in the first half of 1955 happened after dark. The division gave these fig ures in issuing its annual appeal to motorists, as fall gets into full force, to drive carefully especial ly after dark.' ft-aoiOi.-AA:. idlrara Published in cooperation with the United Medford Crusade by ... LITTLE DAISY and ALL THE FOLKS AT SNIDERS pounds of the two grass seeds produced in Oregon in 1954. This is the first producer commission to come to a vote under the Ore gon Commodity Commission en abling act. With certification of the of ficial vote to the secretary of state, the next move in establish ing the Fescue Commission will come from Gov. Paul Patterson. The enabling act provides that the governor appoint from 5 to 11 members of a commission. A majority of the members must - MM sole drivers! save g in the past 2 years! 10 less if no f accident costing $100 in the last year! Hf Come in-start savingright now! T. J. HIGHT AGENCY, Inc. 221 North Central and fathers ' ' - mmmimmmmMmmmmmM mmmmmmmmMMBm . .. jV.-y.-.ji,.- --..-J C rassi MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE FIVE. be growers and at least one member must be a handle. Vote Listed The vote in the four main chewings and red fescue produc ing counties and the combined scattering vote from other coun ties included: Clackamas, 53 yes, 10 no. Marion, 50 yes, 10 no. Tin ion 24 yes, 2 no. Linn, 12 yes, 3 no. Seven other counties, 17 yes, 1 no. No votes were cast in Yamhill, Umatilla, Klamath or Clatsop counties. 1 : . - 20 right row! Our new auto policy costs you 20 less than standard rates if you've had no accident costing $ 1 00 or more Phone 2-5223 n n
