Evening star., 1943-12-18
This and That
By Charles E. TrdceUeH.
"BETHESDA Nd

Dear Sir:
"A year or so ago one of your CORE
spondents wrote about the winter gar
den picture made by common sparrows
clustered in a rose vine.
Il have discovered this to be true.
My feeding station is on post in front
OF vine of the DR.. Van Fleet rose on a
fence.
In this vine the birds disperse them
selves, so that they seem to be spec
tators watching the others eat.
Il have often noticed how artistically
they group themselves and believe it
must be the unconscious artistic some
thing in all nature, such as we have all
seen in many woodland picture
Il am thinking it would be a good
plan for those who have large rose vines
on their fences to lure the common
sparrowS to them.
Il can assure them that they will have
many reWarding moments.
Very truly, M. Mob. G."
& * Il
This correspondent has discovered a
truth not known to every one, that the
English sparrow, when we'll fed, is a
handsome bird.
This means that group of them will
make a good picture.
This Is not known even to many per-
sons who feed the wintering birds.
Now that the colder days have come,
many more persons will be interested in
the birds which stay here all winter.
They should not cut themselves off
from the rewards of beauty, even if they
must admit to themselves that the Eng
llsh sparroWs are not as bad as they
had thought.
Feed the birds"
This is the winter time slogan of all
persons who appreciate the role which
our feathered friends play in agri-
culture.
Agriculture, of course, is a broad term
1t includes great wheat acres of square
miles, and tiny Victory gardens no more
than 10 feet square
The truth is that anyone is an agri-
culturist who has in his heart and mind
a love for the growing things of the
earth
This takes in many man or woman
who owns no land, and who may not
even have larger physical vista than
| a tin roof out of rented room
X X
AS long as there are trees. and as long
as there are humans to love trees. we
may all claim to be agriculturists AT
heart,
That is why it is heart breaking tc
many persons to see damage inflicted
| on trees.
Trees are the homes of our birds in
a very true sense.
Winter and summer, there is nothing
a bird likes better than a tree. unless it
is vine of some sort
| Not all species are partial to vines.
The English sparrow. looking very
chesty in world in which the name has
taken on new glories, to add to those
OF the centuries, seems to find something
very much to his liking in all vines.
| He seeks shelter in ivy on walls and
nnds great masses of rose vines or
fences fine place to keep warm.
| This column has often pointed out
the grand picture in the snow and colo
made by flock of three or four dozen
| sparfoWs, as they spread themselves out
through some vine on a fence
Our Old friend, the Van Fleet rose
does as well as any, in this respect. It's
great canes act exactly as the seats in
| human amphitheater. The sparrows
huddle in them while the places in the
feeding station are occupied AS one
surfeited sparrow flies out, to rest in
the vine, one there flies down into the
| station.
There is constant interchange, birds
feeding and looking on constantly. The
observer may feel that this is not all
mechanical motor wisdom, but true
understanding on the part of the par
Elephants of the luxury they are enjoy.
ing, and the very fine picture they make
| IN the eyes Of all two-legged creatures