Evening star., 1944-02-01
This and That
By Charles E. TraceUeu
"BERWYN HEIGHTS. M

Dear Sir:
We have two dogs. The littler and
older one. which, in spite of his age, is
still the Bundle puppy, is ours, and the
other one belongs to our granddaughter,
and only lives here. Bundle has occu-
pied an easy chair at night ever since
he was puppy. I make his bed with
a piece Of old blanket and pillow.
The other dog, Jerry, has always
slept on a rug on the floor until this
winter. Then he began getting up in
large rocker to sleep I scolded and
put papers in the chair at night. Then
one morning I discovered him sleeping
on the couch. That is not a place for
dogs told him sternly. He got down
sheepishly. And he lay and looked at
me as though he we're saying, 'Bumble
has bed. 1t is not fair So I gave in.
I found another blanket and an old
pillow. I made him bed on the end
Of the couch. Now he sleeps there And
always on the blanket Never at the
other end, which is not covered He
doesn't go up until his bed is made
Nov I ask you, did he feel discrim-
mated against. or did I think so be-
cause it seemed unfair to him?
Did you ever notice how jays and
crows often flock in odd numbers? Last
summer thrushes nested in a maple
close to the house. We saw no signs
of babies, and after awhile my grandson
climbed up and looked. There were
four eggs and each was pierced with
tiny hole like a pin prick. Can you
account for that?
II like your column, especially when
it is about birds
Sincerely yours, E. P. B."
The psychology of dogs is always an
interesting study. 1t is often impossible
to say, however, just where the psychol-
ogy Of the owner comes in.
Dogs and humans are so closely united
in mental bonds that one is Influenced
by the other.
The human sense of fairness, we be-
neve, played major part in securing
the second dog nice. soft bed. 1t may
be that the dog felt Disseminated
against. That is hard to say.
1t is certainly true that dogs have
lived so close to us for so many centuries
that they have likes and dislikes which
what we might term ordinary animals
do not possess.
The fact that blue jays often fly in
small bands of three, five or seven has
often been noticed.
This comes about, one may feel, be-
cause these bands represent the mother
and father and a few children.
Just why the band does not come out
to an even number more often is ques-
ton. 1t is also complicated by the fact
that the mother may or may not be
present
AS for the thrush eggs which had
holes in them, we may suspect, in all
such cases, the nefarious work of Jenny
wren.
The female house wren, when she gets
started, is a pretty bad little bird. Her
pert tail, her bubbling song and her
bright presence in the summer scene
make most observers think she could do
no wrong.
She is, however, something of a vii
lainess at nesting time. Mostly her
spleen is against some other wren, es-
pecially one at which Johnny has been
casting eyes, but at times she covets
the nest of some other bird.
She has often been seen seated at the
entrance of birdhouse, pulling out the
nesting material put there by another.
Sometimes she will puncture the eggs
of rival.
In nature it will be found that all that
glitters is not gold. Many persons, look
ing at the wren, would think they
wronged 1t to believe that it could do
anything so cruel as to deprive another
mother wren of her eggs. But this is
often the case. and 1t becomes all the
worse when we stop to reflect that very
few songbirds indulge In such feathered
naStineSs,