Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-21
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

! The early morning serenade Of the
SUBURBAN bird chorus Is at an end. For
! several weeks 1t has been decreasing,
until now there are few chirps only
heard IN the 6arkened air Of 4:30 am.
One will be sorry or glad, according
to the mood in which one welcomed the
Summer burst Of Weakening. Some peo-
pie like it. others regard it as a nuf-
sance. Sound sleepers seldom hear 1t.
The sound is unlike any thing else in
Nature. 1t is not musical In any sense,
being composed mostly Of Squeaks,
chirps CRATES and ciackings, such as
birds utter when they begin to wake up.
Like human beings, who ordinarily
must be up and Going for several hours
before they begin to smile and to re-
gard the day with Zest, the birds sell
dom tune their sweetest lays early in
the morning.
| These they reserve for later, pre-
ferably until twilight. No doubt the
idea CT veSpers first came from the
birds. The early morning chorus is q
marsh sound, which can be called en-
tsrtaining only when one tries to pick
out the sweetest singing from the
hurly-burly of sounds
The total effect is rather disturbing
TO a sensitive ear. 1t Is no more musi-
cal than the tuning up Of great SYM
/ phony orchestra prior to the appearance
OF the conductor. BY the way, some
OF the orchestra leaders are fuming
about the word conductor, declaring
that it Jumps them of with street-car
hands, etc. Surely this Is another
tempest in a teapot.
Those who have been interested
enough in birds to feed them during
! the Summer will not let their actiyi-
ties cease during the cold weather, but
| VIII reuouble their efforts To help the
| feathered creatures. There will not be
as many OF them. of course, and every
crumb Of bread and morSel of suet
will do double duty.
| Feeding stations are Of many types,
but the best are those on long poles or
hung from tree branches. A stout post
| VIII not do, as cats can climb A
slender pole does not offer much of a
| toe hold. even to a cat.
| II tree Is used, branch should be
/ selected at some distance from the
trunk in order that Pussy will not be
tempted to crawl out to the station.
we nave always heard 1t said that a
feeding station should not be too near
built them outside a window and have
claimed that the birds sought the shell
ter and food there as readily as else
/ where. There are, though, some evil
dent drawbacks to the location.
| y
Shrubs which show bright berries in
the Fall are supposed to be great for
attracting birds. although we must saw
that We have seldom seen any after the
! white berries OF the snowberry. Per-
haps this has been due to the fact that
most of the bushes we have seen have
been planted close to houses.
! The art Of attracting the birds Is an
] old one, perhaps as ancient as man
These little. fluttering creatures. ex-
| posed to the cold of Winter. facing
| nature without asking any quarter
have appealed to him since the first
| days.
1t Is only within the era of ciyiliza
ton, however, as We know the term.
that mans relation to the birds has
been extended to include their protec-
ton from man himself. Great parks
have been set aside for them and help
ful laws enacted in order that those
beneficial to man might be kept on the
face of the earth. The home owner
who sets out food for the birds this
Winter is taking part In a great hu-
manitarian movement, helpful to birds
and men alike.