Evening star., 1944-07-01
This and That
By Charles 4. TrdceUell.
HRTNUnIfr lEn

"BENEDICT, MD.
Frequently have read your column
and just as often have enjoyed it. Have
you published any of your papers about
Gods little feathered creatures and the
outdoor life generally? II so, am anx-
ious to get copy.
Il have been awaiting anxiously the
arrival Of the little but mighty hum
mingbird. Today he showed UP directly
IN front OF my door, busily taking the
pink down from . nearby tree. Could
you recommend 4 good book on birds
and their habits? Thanking you, I re-
main,
Yours very truly. REV. j. G. McC.
st Francis de Sales Rectory."
There are on the market literally
hundreds of good books on birds and
their habits. A few of them are Birds
OF America" edited by T. Gilbert Pear
son, published by Garden City Publish
Ing Co.; "The Book of Birds" edited by
Gilbert Grosvenor and Alexander Wet
more, published by the National Geo.
graphic Society; Bird Portraits in COL
or" by Thomas Sadler Roberts, pub
lished by the University of Minnesota
Press; Birds Of North Carolina" issued
by the North Carolina Department of
Agriculture: Birds of the South" by
Charlotte Hilton Green, published by
the University of North Carolina Press
at Chapel Hill; Wings at My Window" :"
by Ada Clapham Govan. published by
the Macmillan Co., and The illus
trated Encyclopedia Of American Birds" I"
by Leon Augustus Hausman," pub
hshed by Halycon House. The writer
here uses the first three of the above
LIST more than any other books Of their
kind. mostly because he has them at
hand and finds them very good.
For small pocket book to use for
the ready identification Of local birds We
like the Bird Guide" treating land
birds east of the Rockies, by Chester A.
Reed, Published by Doubleday, Doran d
Co.
We are glad that Father McC. likes
the hummingbird. It has rightly been
called the jewel of the air. Certainly no
feathered thing has more right to the
name.
The hummingbird builds a beautiful
tiny nest about the size of a walnut
shell, and in it are placed two eggs,
usually, about the size of peas. The
incubation period extends from IL to
Is days, according to whether the
weather is warn and dry or rainy and
cold.
The mother hummer is the heroine of
this piece. She not only builds the
nest, lays the eggs and does all the
brooding, but also feeds the little ones
Her handsome mate with the red
splotch on his throat (which she lacks.
being all green) never lifts a wing to
help her except by keeping guard.
This, however, Is a real service at times
and let no one think that the father
bird is not a mighty battler. When he
has to fight, he can do it with the best
OF them, and often drives away birds
many times his size.
While sitting on the nest, the mother
bird has no one to bring food to her. so
she has to leave 1t, and so the eggs be-
come chilled. Species which take turns
on the nest handle this matter much
better than the hummingbirds.
Hummingbird babies when born are
about the size Of bumblebee,
felted plant, fern or dandelion down,
and covered with moss and lichens. It
Is so placed on a limb that to an eye
below 1t merely seems a protuberance.
One out. the young birds seldom come
back to the nest, except for a night or
two.
The ruby -throated hummingbird. the
only species which comes to Washing
ton and vicinity, usually arrives early
In May, and remains till late September.
Though small, the hummer can fly
with the best of them, gliding along the
unchartered roads of the air as far as
Southern Mexico, when 1t leaves US, and
going as far North as Labrador, when
1t returns.
Petunias and gladioluses are favorites
OF this beautiful bird. Any one who
grows them In this vicinity will be sure
to have hummingbirds. Small hared
tubes of glass. in various colors, may be
purchased: these. when filled with
susaAand water, half and half. will at
tract than