Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-06-04

Any number Of things in the world
the birds must think are made espe.
cially for them.
Perhaps that is one reason why they
| are such incurable optimists, cheer.
fully singing all the day long.
Consider the telephone wires.
All sorts Of birds manifestly regard
these as strung along streets for theil
particular benefit.
The telephone company and thu
light company may have put them ur
for human use. but there is no bird
alive but thinks them intended fol
perches only.
The aggressive bluejays, Cheerful.
rascals in gray and blue, sit on the
humming wires while calling theil
| to lure the cats Of the neighborhood
Then, when some cat appears. the
| jays change their cry to discordant
shrek, in which they seem to be using
up the entire vocabulary of birdlano
in hurting imprecations at the feline
head.
The claws Of most birds are the
| right size to fit around wires. From
the largest and glossieSt blackblrds tc
the tiny finches. all birds find wires
just suited to them.
All fence posts. fence wires anc
wires of other types similarly meet the
full approval of the birds in Washing
] ton and vicinity.
One Of the advantages OF fence
little known-that it attracts birds.
Many a householder, who goes to
great deal of trouble in attempting te
lure them with bird boxes and the
like, as we'll as with feeding stations
La nf
he would provide them with a fence.
There cannot be the slightest doubt
in the world that o fence will attract
the songsters. So enamored are they
with one that commonly they test each
post and strand In turn.
End posts, In particular, impress
birds as having been designed for Their
peculiar benefit. Whether the post is
fiat or round on top makes not the
slightest bit of difference to your ay-
erage garden variety Of bird.
1t offers him just the perch he likes
while looking over the yard for worms
And this brings US and him imme-
diately to the next man-made feature
which the population of the air takes
to be there for their benefit.
This is the lawn
Lawns are called 'angleworm fields
by the birds, il they are called anything
at all. and. Of course, we do not say
that they are. We just think they are.
Any bird in its right mind would
look upon a cultivated yard as fishin'
worm preserve so consistently do they
find them there, especially during and
after rains.
II one will imagine himself bird for
moment and go flying through the air
over a residential community, he will
note at once that certain places. such
as streets, sidewalks and vacant lots,
offer extremely difficult 'pickings."
Only in those smooth places SO nice
and green, usually situated at the front
and rear and sometimes on the sides OF
the dwellings Of the creature man will
the hungry bird find conditions entirely
to his liking.
Such places are called lawns" by
men, noisy but useful creatures in the
main. Any good bird can pick up fine
living by camping near lawn.
At certain times Of the year. too. a
plentiful supply of the most delicious
seed is deliberately sprinkled all over
the ground.
This is called grass seed"
In many instances, however. as many
householder knows, what they put out
in early Spring or early Fall Is bird
seed.
The birds know it very well.
They are busily at work at dawn, fore
going their song to partake Of food en-
tirely to their liking
Just how much grass seed is 50 con-
sumed on the average place after 1t is
sown is a matter for conjecture, but
many lawn enthusiast will be willing
to testify that the loss Is large
In the ma jority of instances this loss
+ 6Hn bird feeding makes no difference