Evening star., 1933-06-30
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACENELL.

than 1t is, and fresh water poured in
oftener, with less reliance placed on
rainfall.
The size of birds, we think, has a
great deal to do with the affection Of
many nature lovers for them. Mostly
we like very little birds, or quite good
sized ones. The charming goldfinches.
which visit Washington and vicinity
for few days in the Spring. are uni
versally loved and admired. Their tiny
, flashing bodies seem like butterflies.
The rubythroated hummingbird Is the
friend Of all who see it.
The chesty robin numbers his hu-
man friends by the tens Of thousands.
The fighting bluejays have a million
admirers, thanks to their size, their
perfect plumage and their bold ways.
| The thrashers and the mockingbirds,
while not snowy. in any sense, always
command the attention even Of persons
! who may not be familiar with them.
| y y
At this point let us enter q plea for
the very amateur bird lover.
He-or she-may not know one bird
from another and yet love them all.
After much acquaintance this anna
teur may know little more than he did
before and yet be perfectly sincere IN
his admiration.
There Is feeling in this world, no
doubt correct enough, as far as 1t goes,
that acquaintance should lead on and
on to perfect knowledge.
II one takes up certain line Of in
terest. after many days he Is supposed
to issue forth an expert" or an "au-
thortty" at the least.
| X 4
Yet it may be questioned, In all sin
cerity, whether admiration need result
SO invariably
The great Order Of Appreciators has
many degrees, and not the least hon.
ored of these is the First Degree. Dubs.
Members of this are Apprec!ators
merely.
They know what they like, and their
merit consists in liking it.
They read books, and love them. Al
though they could not write . best
seller to save their lives.
They attend plays. and appreciate
good acting; they recognize flrst-class
paintings when they see them: they
know good government from mediocre
government.
Yet in no sense are they writer's, ac-
tors, artists, politicians.
| X X
They are Appreciators.
| It Is so with the things OF the garden,
including its birds. One properly may
| be an admirer of the featnered friends
without knowing their names or much
about their habits.
Sometimes one may believe that 1t Is
we'll that all of us do not set up as ex-
perts In the garden or elsewhere. for
in that event the world would be so
crammed with them that no work
would be done.
| 1t takes three or four years for some
Of us to tell thrasher from q catbird,
and this we mostly do by noting that
the thrasher eats ants off Of tree trunks.
Our science is not very large, but our
affection for the birds IS considerable; !;
1t is always a happiness to see them
and hear them.
Not like the catbird?
Bless your heart, we would like 1t Tor
its name. If for nothing else.
But the bird itself is SO capable. 50
sleek, as our correspondent says. that
it wins for itself thousands OF admirers,
including yellow Quincy, the cat.
Only the other day we saw him sit
ting on the driveway. admiring cat
bird on the arching bough Of locust.
And the bird seemed to admire him,
In turn, for it mewed and put forth a
! great variety Of sound in his direction.