Evening star., 1944-08-16
This and That
Bu Charles E. TraceueH.

~ CHQTteS T.. 1TuCeUeA.
Birds are all the time getting down
chimneys and into furnaces. or COM
ing out in flreplaces and getting SCOT
all over the walls.
1t is wonder that more of them
DO not do it. 1t is very easy for a
songster to get down a chimney, and
evidently it has an intrigue to 1t for
them known only in birdland.
Swallows often come down large
chimneys, and flap against walls, smear
ing everything with black.
One local resident made a fire in
the furnace in the fall, and later
opening the "clean-out" door, discovered
a smoked sparrow perched inside.
Furnace doors should be left open
in the warm weather, and this gives
any wayward bird q chance to get out.
Such birds may be caught by the
place to catch one, according to all
cat tradition.
In the event q bird gets in, doors
and windows should be opened, screens
taken out or opened, and the creature
given a chance to find its own way
out.
1t will do this much more expedite
ously by itself than If it is helped"
by excited human beings.
An old superstition is that a death
will occur in the family where a bird
gets into the house. Since many of
these old superstitions have a way of
worrying even those who loudly pro-
claim their immunity to them, it Is
perhaps best on this score, if on no
other, to keep birds out Of the house
The superstition is based on the old
belief that bird is, indeed, a strange
creature, probably symbolic of the soul,
and that it's entrance into a room and
its subsequent flight thereform repre-
sents the coming of the soul into the
body and its departure at death.
There are enough reminders Of death
in the modern world as it is, so that
every bird lover is wise to keep his
favorites out in the outdoors where
they belong.
On the other hand scores of persons
can testify that birds have entered
their homes without anything dire hap
pening later And heaven knows there
are enough canary birds Gagged indoors
to prove the idea wrong.
Many persons have brought up birds
which have fallen out of the nest, and
have kept them indoors for months
before releasing them. Or before the
birds released themselves. as they most
often do, when they are made pets
beyond the necessary time.
One local resident kept blue jay
indoors for eight months. A easement
window blew open when the human
residents were away, and the jay took
to the air of the great outdoors, never
to return.
Before this, when he had been re-
leased, other birds chased him. so that
he would not 60 out again. But evi-
IDENTIFY the true call of the wild got
too much for him,
The fancy for Gagged birds, with the
exception of canaries and love birds
and few others, seems to have lessened
in recent years.
This is because, one may believe, the
interest In bird life has grown, and
with its widening influence more and
more persons have come to see that
the only place for q bird to live, with
some exceptions, is the outdoors.
Their falling down chimneys and
ooWIlSpOuLS are only 6cClQenLS, ana 90
not mean that the creatures want to
be indoors.
Mostly when they find themselves
in indoor air they become panic
stricken. Walls are new idea to them,
one which they do not like very well.
1t is very likely that the stufiness
of indoor air is keenly felt by bits of
life used to the freshest of fresh air.
In the old days a candid japanese
would tell you that Americans and
Europeans "smelled like camels.'
1t is difficult to say what a talking
bird would say modern home smelled
like to him. Undoubtedly he would
miss the freshness of the outdoors and
many of the little earth smells which
mingle to make perfume known and
appreciated by many humans.
I am In love with the smell of the
outdoors" said Walt Whitman. Il could
turn and live with the animals for the
rest Of my life"
J.