Evening star., 1937-02-10
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

minuteS-about five, it turned out-they
were due in their roosts, wherever these
were. It Is q mystery to us where our
birds roost. Many Of them, no doubt,
far away. The ancestral memory for
the good feeding grounds brings them
back every morning on the stroke Of 7
/ am, or even a little earlier. But this
evening we knew the five sparrows and
the two cardinals were going to roost
close by. The lateness Of their stay with
us proved it. At a certain light, no doubt
individual with each bird, each flies away
to roost. Feeding Is over for the day.
Sleep comes next. Each brides wisdom
was voiced for it by Ben Franklin, who
said, Early to bed. early to rise. makes
bird healthy, wealthy and WISE"
Suddenly two more male cardinals
flew into. the yard. There were now
three males and one female present, and
q fight was in order. Sure enough. two
of the males flew at each other. Their
battles, as all observers know, are mostly
sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Even robins fight more determinedly
The cardinals simply fly up into the air
together, and that is all there is to their
fighting.
The snow was coming down in earnest
now. The five sparrows scratched in
the place beneath the feeder. worn
smooth by the feet Of, countless birds.
They were large, healthy sparrows,
with high temperatures and stomachs
crammed with the very best of carbon
eaceous foods, high in heat value. Calo-
ries, in other words. Fortunate the
birds not to have to bother about such
words.
To eat calories is one thing, but to
know you are eating calories. how tire
some!
So we had five sparrows and three
cardinals, and the light was growing
dim, and the darkness was calling for a
response in the dim, ancestral memory
of each bird. the light was growing dim
and calling for a limb. The idea of a
limb on which to perch was growing in
those funny little heads there until all
of sudden
Away went one bird, then another.
until all at once not bird was to be
seen. 1t was almost dark now, the snow
falling thickly. 1t was time to refill the
feeders in readiness for the next day.
y
real uSIlL CdIIlc Idtc IlcAb
High hats OF beautiful snow sur
mounted each feeding station. keeping
the seed nice and dry beneath.
And sure enough, there through the
fence came hopping five sparrows and a
pair Of cardinals!
The same birds, undoubtedly, after
their nights repoSe.
The last to leave and the first to
arrive spoke of one thing, nearness Of
sleeping place to eating place.
The fox sparrows, if such they were.
went to scratching in the snow as if it
were not there. They preferred to seek
their food thus. rather than fly up to
the feeder platform. But the cardinals
relished the idea of the fresh seed and
the platform perch. One or the other
was in the feeder until the big con-
tingent of English sparrows began to
arrive.
Surely they are charming birds, these
English sparrows, fairly viewed. A dozen
of them were festooned along a spray of
climbing rose. Their gray chests and
brown backs made pretty picture in the
snow.
Very soon now many score more birds
would come. including chickadees, nuth-
atches and crested titnice. that beautiful
trio, and they all would look larger and
more beautiful because of the whiteneSs
everywhere.