Evening star., 1944-03-14
This and That
By Charles Z. TraceueH.


FIRST robins" are here in force now.
Everybody has EN-. In front yards,
side yards, back yards, in parks, robins
are definitely back.
This is good.
Wars sometimes stop, but Americas
robins go on forever. They are not
really robins, but belong to the thrush
family, yet robins is their name through
long usage. The Baltimore oriole is not
really an oriole, either.
Our robin is really the first of the
migrating birds to return SO that he
Is seen by all eyes. Sharp eyesight will
have seen the purple finches and the fox
sparrows precede him. They have gone
on farther North.
few Carolina wrens have been here
all winter.
A correspondent tells us that they
are fond OF peanut butter, also hickory
nuts and suet.
This column previously has suggested
meal worms for this bird. Meal worms
may be secured from pet stores, or may
be grown in old flour.
Most familiar and at home of all the
birds, the robin fits neatly into every
body's bird consciousness 1t is not at
all necessary to know the names of
the various birds to like robins They
are one OF the Two great comparison
birds, that Is, they are used for purposes
OF comparing sizes in birds. If some
one sees strange one he Immediately
thinks that it is smaller or larger than
robin. The English sparrow is the
other standard Of comparison. An un-
familiar species is said to be the same
size, or smaller or larger than the Eng
ush sparrow.
Here is something good you can say
for the OPA:
They took raisins off the ration list
just in time for the robins. Raisins are
now ration free.
There is no food the robin likes better.
He likes the seedless kind best. we
believe, with the seeded raisins a close
second.
Every one who likes robins should
try putting out some raisins for them,
NO fancy feeding station is necessary.
In TACT, any particular effort would
defeat the purpose of putting out the
ralSlns, for robins do not like feeding
stations
Just throw the raisins out into the
grass. The lawn, after all, is the robins
dinner table He will not find manv
worms at this time Of year. but raisins
are his meat.
There Is no bird that looks more lovely
in the early spring than the robin, Just
after he has come back
Then "handout" of raisins helps him
great deal.
He is not lonely. No species is more
master of his envirnment.
When he gets here, he finds berries
on barberry and other bushes.
When cool rains arrive, they drive out
a few worms, and the robin gets these.
He looks very lonely however, and his
human friends will want to do some
thing for him. A slice of bread, moist
ened with milk or water, will attract
him.
A few scraps Of cake fill the bill. Not
every one will want to give cake to birds,
but some will, and they will find their
largess well repaid.
A robin Is handsome bird He is SO
common that sometimes people forget
that. Our robin blends we'll with the
home lawn, the trees and the shrubs
OF the suburbs, but he is equally at home
on the small city place, and in the
parks, and even in the tree boxes along
the streets.
Robin shelves, open on three sides,
may be put out for him, but in most
cases there will be no takers Perhaps
most persons who long to attract the
robin do not put the shelves high
enough. Twenty feet is better than
10 feet.
The robin is an independent bird
which likes to select its own nesting
site, and to build where it pleases
After friend of birds has put up robin
shelves for years without success, he is
likely to permit this species to do as it
pleases, sure that in the end it will be
one OF the joys of the spring and sum-
mer. There can be no question that the
robin likes to return to the same neigh
borhood, year after year. and will do
10 II he can.