Evening star., 1944-07-11
This and That
Bv Charles Z. TrdceDell.
ELEVENTH STREET Sc.

Dear Sir.
Several deaths from spotted fever,
attributed to infection carried by ticks.
have occurred recently. These lives
might have been saved by . knowl-
edge Of the simple but effective method
OF exterminating these pests which Was
described With all necessary detail in
my letter to you under date Of May
81, 1o4l. The letter was published In
full In your column. This and That,
in The Evening Star Of June II. le4l.
i heartily second your defense Of the
much-maliened English sparrow; really
an admirable little fellow dweller: alert.
brave, sef-reliant, vivacious, neighborly,
harmless. Why was this protector Of
our shade trees called by ugly names,
and why did 1t become 4 vogue to echo
those epithets endlessly? He dances
venturesomely toward one, With q cheer
full chirp that seems to say, Probably
you don't intend to do me any harm,
and I'll take long chances, for the sake
OF being friends, though 1t is Just A.
well to keep an eye on you and be
glad I'm quick on the wing
When fiedslings tumble prematurely
out Of the nest. and are helped back,
the cries Of the parent birds become
Joy notes, Is II saying, oh, thank you,
mister! Thank you 90 much! You're q
regular fellow. and one Of U.S. The
earliest immigrant sparrows were short,
round bodied. snuf1-colored bros: but
the present-day variety has . longer,
streamlined body and striped plumage,
and youngsters seen today are sport
Ing black neckbands. Evidently q mu-
tation has occurred and the American
lied sparrow is on the way to become q
handsome bird. Has any naturalist
yet remarked on the change?
Yours for the gospel OF mercy,
j. w. Meg"
How are people going to learn racial
tolerance II they cannot be tolerant Of
sparrows and starlings?
Tolerance Is q virtue which must be
built up. It evidently does not come
naturally to all people
The home gardens may be training
ground for this as many other good
traits.
No one should think that only flowers
and vegetables grow in gardens.
Ill will may grow there, too. We have
found some gardeners growing what
somebody has called "grumble gar
dens," where everything that one said
or suggested was contradicted by
another.
The English sparrow definitely Is
changing.
We suggested this several years ago,
for one. The birds in our own yard,
fed with good seed and grain, are much
larger and gloSsier than the downtown
birds
This is more than just 4 matter of
dust and dirt. While there can be no
question that the downtown sparrows
are dirty and mostly underfed, they
are not as large or as handsome as
the suburban birds in any way, and
the change must be due to more than
environment, or even food.
The truth is that the English or Euro
pean sparrow has always been 4 very
handsome little bird in 4 brown sort
of way.
The black marks, especially the black
bib at the throat of the male. are de-
pendent upon the food supply Seed
eaters, these birds do very well any
where there is supply Of weed seeds.
In recent years reports have come
In that they have been seen eating
both the grub and mature forms OF the
japanese beetle.
In the downtown areas sparrows wage
lncessant warfare against June bugs and
others.
Recently beautiful specimen of the
Polyphemus moth came into the news
room OF The Star 1t clune to the
frame Of metal window. Placed in
box overnight, it layed some 60 eggs
therein.
The general color of the Polyphemus
moth (Telea polyphemus) ID brown,
with clear eye spot in front and
hind wings. The spots on the hind
wings are surrounded by IN oblons dark
blue blotch. The color OF this moth
varies from light to very dark brown
It Is found usually On chestnut and
hrcA tsas. -