Evening star., 1944-10-26
This and That
By Charles E. TracelDell.
ARLINGTON, Va,

ARLINGTON, Va.
Dear SIR
ANY one who enjoys your column as
much as my family and I should be
obligated to contribute letter from
time to time. Especially since readers
letters, entertaining or not themselves,
always lead to such diverting comment.
This one probably should be directed
to the director of the National Geological
Park. I should like to ask him, through
you, why it is that although hundreds
of thousands of Washington residents
are keenly interested in native birds
they are not afforded an opportunity to
study them in the cages of the Zoo bird
house.
DO the managers of ZOOS (the COM
plant is valid for every one I have
visited) feel that mynas and bullfnches
and Java Sparrows or even birds of
paradise can compete for interest with
grackles and grosbeaks and, say, wood
cock?
ut seems to me that an alert official
might be aware of the fact that books
by the thousand, recordings of songs in
record form and columns like yours are
eagerly devoured by an ever-increasing
body of people. And that if this is so
they would be grateful for a chance to
distinguish between Philadelphia vireo
and warbling vireo, for instance, at
close hand.
I've tried to think of the arguments
which might have prevented the forming
of such native collection. Cruel to
American songbirds? Then why cage
any birds? Are ours better than others?
Laws against it? There are few
examples of American birds in the bird
house now. All front-yard or garden
variety-like robins or very rare varieties
like snowy owls or golden eagles.
THE arguments for such a collection
are far more numerous Our birds are
as interesting and beautiful. Try to find
more spectacular birds than the bluejay,
bluebird and cardinal or more interest,"
ing than the woodcock or ruffed grouse.
importation of foreign birds is diff
flcult or impossible just now and GER
tainly expensive.
ours are on the spot and could be
contributed by bird banders who catch
thousands every year. Feeding them
should be easy. A complete, or nearly
complete, collection could be fascinat-
ing goal.
I'D like to see the large indoor flying
cage devoted to American birds, Amer
ican birds of the sort that I've never
seen closer than my binoculars would
bring them. Like crows. Do you know
that I've been watching birds casually
since 1914 and have never seen simple
ordinary crow nearer than 100 yards?
Rare items like the roseate spoonbill.
the wood duck, the flamingo, yes, in ZOOS
along with that old chestnut the laugh
ing jackass and countless other charac-
ters from Australia, but never never a
good old-fashioned crow. What do you
suppose crow really looks like up close?
I'D like to see meadow lark, too,
and flicker. Please do something about
it. I'm tired of looking at adjutants.
It's too painful. I'm an adjutant my
self.
Yours very truly, S. E. G., 1t. Col"
the National Geological Park, says that
Keeping native wild birds in ZOOS just
isn't done.
There is almost an unwritten law
against it. Our own Zoo, he declares, is
IN Itself bird sanctuary, with more
than $50 species to be seen in the shrubs
and trees including practically all of
the 40 different warblers which come
here.
Bird lovers, of whom he counts him.
self one, DR.. Mann asserts, do not like
to see the native birds confined.
1t would be possible for him to get
permits from the Bureau of Fish and
Wildlife, of course, but in general it is
not done in geological parks.
During President Hoovers administra-
ton one bird lover protested to Mr..
Hoover the inclusion of woodthrush
in the big cage. This bird, as several
others, including our correspondents
robin, were brought by persons who
found them i'll or fallen out>of the nest.
At one time the Zoo had q collection
OF about dozen birds of English litera-
ture, but these died out. Permission to
have, them was secured from both-t
Ene.9n and American government
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