Evening star., 1925-01-15
IN TODAY'S SPOTLIGHT
BY PAUL y. COLLINS.

from Fall to Spring. Listen to the
beautiful whistle of that blue Jay.
See how funny~he is when he eats
corn, First, he swallows two big
grains, whole: then. he nibbles at the
third, holding It in his bill and break
ing it. and swallowing the bits.
Look at those downy woodpeckers
the rascals--who have evicted the
'wrens from their home when the
Bird Rent Board was not on the Job,
and they have pecked, and pecked
that tiny entrance until 1t no longer
fits wren, but is just right size for
dowry woodpecker. The wrens had
no lease, for leases are no longer
given in Washington; the birds know
that. Besides, there is scarcity OF
comfortable apartments, at reason
able bird rents. that even the English
sparrows have been building new
| nests, which they never do If they can
find any unoccupied knotholes or
chinks under, weatherboards where
they can crawl in. How human they
are
There is such a mixed society of
birds in Washington that one might
even call this city a melting pot
for bird immigrants, if the name were
| not 50 suggestive OF potpie that 1t
would scare away the timid wings.
There are the myrtle warblers, which
stay with US all Winter; the hermit
thrush. the red-headed woodpecker,
the flicker, the American and the
white wing crossbills, the white
bellied and the ted-breasted nuthatch,
| the golden-crowned and ruby crown
| ed kinglets, the meadowlarks in the
| open fields (if not showed under), the
| Winter wren, bobbine his tiny head
| the juncos tsnowbirds) and all the
| sparrows-the song sparrow, the
| white-throated, the true, the field
| the chipping. Even the English spar.
| row earns our sympathy by his grit
and self-dependence. He is the orig
| inal propasandist for all the birds.
Spread YOUR feast and the little Eng
| lish sparrow will be first to dine
| then, in his generosity, he tells ali
| the other birds, and they, too, come
He even invites the squirrels if there
| is corn or nuts.
- !; K J.;
| DR.. Gartch is the first naturalist
| who ever banded a bird so that it
might be identified later. He assures
bird lovers that they are right in be-
| lieving that the same bird returns
| year after year to its familiar haunts.
Thanks to the initiative of that
great naturalist Theodore Roosevelt.
| bird sanctuaries. are now establish I'd
and protected all over America. If a
private sanctuary be set up upon
ones porch or IN nearby tree, the
/ birds will find it and befriend their
benefactors year after year, as true
pets and sweet serenaders
/ Bird song is tuned like our own
harmonies says DR.. Gartch. with the
| same intervals between notes as our
| musicians give US. Not like the notes
! OF the Orientals, which have four in-
| tervals where we have but one Tha
!, birds have the same overtones as our
! own.
DR.. John Muir tells of his lying
! quietly in the deep woods of Cali
fornia and singing to the birds and
squirrels, untii they, forgot to be
afraid. and would Chamber over him
and answer back to his music. But
alack-a-day, IL he sang "O.d Hun
dred." Neither bird nor squirrel
would stand for that; away they
would scamper, scolding at him for his
bad taste. DR.. Gartch can call crows
about him with a whistle, can carry
| on a long discourse with all rds and
| squirrels. discussing in murmured de-
bate every topic. but he has never
| tried to sing "Old Hundred"
! Copyright, 1925, By Paul v. Couins.)