Evening star., 1944-04-26
This and That
By Charles Z. 7raceuel1.

w. H. w. sends the following contri-
button on spring: a. A
sThe Dogwood limbs are bare all
winter and regardless Of their bark
nothing is done about 1t. When other
trees are leafing In the spring. the
shrlbbery starts to shoot, the flowers
have pistils, the Cowslips up under the
( fence, the Bull-rushes out: Johnny
Jumps up and even the 6napdragon
looks lttle more snappy. Daisy raises
her head and looks lougingly at q
pretty Bluebonnet nearby. a large
Rose was overheard to say, Come on out,
Bud, the weather Is flne. The Mum
had nothing to say. The Japanese
maple tried to commit hara-kari by
weeped as the wind sighed through
In the catnip bed and all the other
the falling Of night and the breaking
OF day, spring is very confusing"
So that's the way spring Is over in
nearby Virginia!
Well, it is mighty nice, just the same.
There Is no season like it, despite
the varying temperatures, and the
spring what it is.
The birds, especially, enjoy it. There
Is no confusion in spring for them. It
Is their season Of seasons. Those which
have wintered here take on new life,
and the migrating birds come in, one
by one. Here the old saying, First
you see 1t, and then you DON'T" must
be changed to read, FIRST you do not
oil 1f r,,l
you do"
Robins and bluebirds began the pro-
cession, and any day now the house
wrens will arrive At the end of the
month the wood thrush will come.
y +
Other birds are flying through, as
witness the following from H. M of
Hoban road:
II am only 10 years old, but I am
quite interested in birds. I belong to
the Colony Hill Bird Club.
"A few days ago strange active
bird came to my feeding station. It was
about inches long and undoubtedly
a warbler. Il thought that it was
strange that warbler should come to
my feeding station)
From his forehead on down to the
scapulars on his wings he was bright
olive green. From there on he was
crookedly striped with black and white.
All of his underparts from his throat
on down to the under-tail- il-covertS were
buff white.
There was fringe of yellow on his
spurious wing.
I'VE wonder If you have any idea
what this bird might be. If you do,
I will appreciate it very much if you
would let me know.
Thank you very much.
Very truly yours, H. M"
This bird probably is the ruby
kinglet. 1t is not warbler. The ruby
crown does not show except when the
bird is fighting or mating.
This bird is from 3.75 to 4.50 inches
in length. 1t is seen here early in
April, If at all. Several have been re-
ported to this column.
Neither warblers nor vireos which
come here at this time have buff
breasts
Other small birds which arrive early
are the pine warbler, March s.; the
yelloW-palm warbler, March %: the
Parula warbler, April g. yellow warbler
and the myrtle warbler, April 2, prairie
warbler April 12 the Maryland yellow
throat, April 13; the yellow -throated
vireo, April IL; the white-eyed vireo,
April 10.
Any one would take the ruby crowned
kinglet for a warbler, 1t is so small
and warbler-like.
D. E., aged II, of Forty ninth street,
reports seeing an American pipit walk
Ing along his street during the last.
snowstorm. This is a rather rare and
irregular migrant in these parts. It is
usually seen from March IL to April "a,
In the spring, and from October II to
November n, In the fall.