Evening star., 1937-01-22

'The hand Is quicker than the eye"
said the old-time magician.
Bird watchers would be inclined to
include the claw as quicker, too.
A wild bird can change its position en-
feeder platform so quickly that 1t Is
impossible to see the claws move around.
This observation Is best made by the
watcher when the feeding device Is
either at the window or very close to it.
The bird flies to the tray Of the feeder
and perches looking inward at the seed.
Then, for some reason or other. it
chooses to turn directly around and
perch looking outward.
This action is instructive, Of course. II
the bird had to think" about 1t. he
never would get around, just as human
who starts to think about his breathing
tends to become short Of breath.
HxtH
The about face" Of even the smallest
sparrow is done with real grace.
The body turn is evident, but the dim-
Guilty comes In, for the watcher, Is OBJ
serving the change Of the feet. The
claws must release their purchase, or
hold, on the edge Of the platform, and
assume exactly the opposite position,
usually on precisely the same spot.
The claws go with the body, of course,
but by the time the human eye tries to
take in the small feet, the motion has
been completed.
The bird has completed its about face,
and the watcher did not see those claws
move at all. The longer he watches this
"a yfoiy 20 &c fr "a
claws and legs move.
Such observations as these, while they
may seem little, in themselves, are part
and parcel OF bird watching in the home
garden. 1t is one of the finer points Of
this indoor outdoor sport that nothing Is
trivial, in it, nothing which can be
smudged with mans often sanctimonious
attitude Of superiority, wherein a scale Of
so-called values is drawn up, and nothing
low in the scale Is regarded as worth
while.
Man has been making such scales over
the centuries, in almost everything he
does or considers, and despite the fact
that his values are being perpetually
upset, he goes right ahead. mostly be-
cause it is the easiest way. Scales in
society are upset so often, the finest men
often coming from lowly ranks, that 1t
would seem impossible for man to go
ahead on these lines any longer, but
nothing is surer than that he does, and
probably that he always will.
In the pleasant occupation OF bird
watching at the Winter feeding station,
there is no high or low, no bird which
is not interesting. no possible movement
which is not worth while observing. In
this sport, as in all others, there is a
good knack, and this knack here lies
mostly In the knowledge that everything
Is worthwhile. If that knowledge Is
firmly kept in mind. the knack of obser-
vation becomes more acute.
Thus the newcomer to bird observa-
tion would never think Of watching the
movement of bird on the feeder plat
form, and attempting to see If the actual
twist around Of the claws could be seen.
All such observations, and there are
scores Of them, belong to the higher
reaches of the art, wherein everything
becomes good in its own right and for
its own sake, not just because it hap
pens to mean something particular and
usually gainful, for man, great man.
Consider the 300.000,000 rabbit pelts
which are imported annually to the
United States to be made into coats.