Evening star., 1944-03-02
This and That
BIZ Charles E. TrdceDeU.
FALLS CHURCH, Va,

Dear Sir:
''The attitude of the various birds as
they approach the well-stocked feeder
in quest Of their evening meal is source
of never-ending interest to me. The male
cardinal watches and waits for me, and
descends with an air of what's going
on here?' as he switches from side to
side; the jay swoops down with a raul
cous call, followed in rapid succession
by his mate and two children: then
I come four chickadees and as many tit
mice, the latter doing aaoemplete about
face with each seed.
"A dove is the dog in the manger, who
monopolizes the board until a squirrel
crashes the gate. She Immediately as
sumes ruff1ed attitude and raises both
wings high, which so intimidates the
squirrel that he soon leaves.
THE modest female cardinal is seen
just before dark taking what is left. and
proving the dignity and reserve of her
sex. Sincerely yours, o. c."
Watching the way the different species
eat is one of the most interesting fea-
lures of running feeding station in the
home yard.
This is something that no amount of
studying the songsters in the woods and
fields will give you.
Yet even an invalid, safely in soft
bed, can watch the Birds come to board
just outside the window.
The housewife at her tasks in the
kitchen, the student looking up from his
work, the busy doctor in his office-these
and countless others easily may study
tho fonIinrr J,oL Of hi irJc bo
is properly placed.
This is one of the best reasons for
the window sill feeding station. 1t not
only permits easy replacement of the
food, no small matter on cold winter
day, but puts the birds where they can
be watched without eyestrain. Often
people fail to realize what a difficult
job looking at them is. Birds are so quick
In their movements, so perpetually on
the go, that the human eye, as fast as
it is, often fails to keep up with them.
If this were realized by the observer, at
the very time he is doing his looking, it
would not be so bad but since he often
fails to understand this, he strains his
eyes in his efforts to see clearly. This
is particularly true of such times as
when he is trying to identify what is for
him new species. This makes for real
eyestrain, sometimes causing the OBJ
server to stop watching birds altogether.
He thinks he has lost interest but what
has happened is that he is trying to
protect his eyes and doesn't know it.
+
A chickadee or titmouse will seize a
seed and fly away with 1t, to crack it on
| branch of some tree or shrub.
Often the blue jay does the same
thing, but occasionally he Grams his
| cheeks with seeds, then flies away to a
| tree, in the crevices of whose bark he
| places the seeds.
In this way he does a genuine service
| to various small birds, including the
| brown creeper and the nuthatch, which,
| in seeking out these seeds in the bark
| interstices, also clean up such small in
sect forms as may be hibernating there.
| The jay also likes to hide larger pieces
| of food in the ground. These are some
times dug up by him and his brood, and
sometimes by the squirrels
So one of the great interchanges of
nature takes place. Many persons do not
realize that anything which interferes
| with any one creature interferes with
the whole chain. A link is broken, and
| perhaps the whole thing will come to
| standstill.
Those who want to kill jays, for sin-
stance, seldom stop to think, at the time
they are venting their spleen on this
handsome, interesting and helpful bird,
that his food hiding habits no doubt
have saved many of the favorite small
birds from death in cold winter.
Watch the birds closely when they
come to your windows, and take special
note of their different ways of eating.
No two birds have exactly the same
| table manners. One will shell a seed
daintily, another chop it to pieces as
with an ak. One will drive others away,
the next will share the board with all
comers. One will permit the husks to
fall into the fresh seed, another will
drop them daintily over the side. Knowl-
edge OF how the birds eat adds immense
1y to the watching, since food, Of course,
Is the crux Of this matter as Of life itself.