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 THE. C9B.R Volum X1 November-December, Number 6 A FORTY-FIVE YEAR HISTORY OF THE SNOWY HERON IN UTAH By ANTWONET, EDWARD AND A. O. TREGANZA WITH MAP AND ONE PHOTO BY G. R. WALKER IXTY miles north of Salt Lake City, where the Bear River empties into Bear River Bay, an inlet of the Great Salt Lake, thousands upon thous- ands of acres are covered. by a tortuous weaving water web of overflow and spring-run, deviously patterning its surface with mud flat, alkaline bed, grass grown islet, open reach of water--all weft .from lake shore to mountain with rank growth of tule and rushes; and so on down the eastern shore of the lake, though somewhat lesser in extent, continue these same marshes, even accompanying the Jordan River .to its narrows at the north end of Utah Lake. In the spring of 1904, through the courtesy and hospitality of Mr. Chas. Knudson of Brigham City, Utah, we were permitted our first knowledge of the great Bear River Marshes. Arriving at his home late in the afternoon, the evening was spent listening to tales of the late sixties and early seventies, when he and his brothers as boys saw the completion of the Central Pacific Railroad, which linked the East with the new West; how, as ardent, inquisitive youths they spent much of their time wandering about this vast expanse of slough, learning little by little the secrets it held. Here they found many species of birds whose home life they studied with eager interest. They had no text book to guide them, but named each in their own vernacular--the Great Blue Heron they called the Blue Crane; the Black-crowned Night Heron, the Squawk; the Snowy Heron, the White Squawk; and the Long-billed Curlew, Willet, Avocet and Black-necked Stilt all went by the name of Snipe. Each spring and fall they noted the myriads of migratory birds passing over these marshes, and love for the leathered life grew deep within them. As the years went by they gradually acquired this land; every alternate section from the railroad, some