Evening star., 1944-04-10
This and That
By Charles E. Trucewell.
SUTHERLAND ROAI


Dear sir:
First, confession. When I moved
here three years ago, I remarked, How
strange for q paper like The Star to
give so much prominent space to COL
umn on birds' But somehow I started
reading bits Of your column, then all of
it, and through it my interest was
aroused until now my bird feeding is my
principal avocation and source of great
pleasure. Your column on the purple
finch impels me to tell you of my expe-
rience with one Of those birds.
"One day in February noticed new
bird. My first thought was that a SPAR
row had been feeding SO long with the
cardinals that he had adopted some Of
their coloring! Just as he flew away
discovered another that had apparently
flown into the screen on my porch and
was lying stunned on the ground. His
beak was open and one wing extended
unnaturally. Although his eyes were
open, he allowed me to pick him up and
bring him in the house, with no eU-
dence of panic.
I'm fact, when I tried to lay him in a
box, found he had adopted my finger
for perch and would not let CO., For 10
minutes he stayed there, while I gave
him water, drop at a time. His beak
closed, his wing went back to It's normal
position, and he began to look about him
with an interested but entirely self pos
sessed air. Gentle stroking Of his mar
velously colored head and back bothered
him not at all.
Finally he flew from my finger to the
window, but allowed himself to be recap
tured and taken outdoors. He made
couple Of short flights, then flew to a
telegraph wire where he sat for at least
half an hour, and at last flew away.
We never saw him Cor any other 1nch)
again, but 1t was a thrilling experience
for me and my children to have the
beautiful creature so close and so tame.
We particularly noticed brilliant rosy
patch on his lower back, covered by the
wings when furled, in contrast to the
more nearly burgundy shade of the rest
Of the body.
(Which brings me to the fact that
there Is nothing like window-sill feed
ing station for getting real appreciation
Of bird colorings. The chickadee and
titmouse and nuthatch will bear any
amount of study of their precise and
delicate patterns. My favorites, for
color, are the female cardinal ESQ much
more subtle than her gaudy mate) and
the fox sparrow. We had at least three
of the latter about at the time of the
recent storm, for perhaps a week, so
your remarks in a recent column struck
responsive chord. One of ours had a
favorite scratching place, perhaps 3
inches in diameter, for couple of days
hot bo CT
snow he returned to the same spot and
worked so vigorously that he kept his
few inches clear long after the rest of
the ground was white. But was pleased
to find that he was not above feeding
on the window sill, where we could get
a good look at his coloring.
Cordially, M. T. j."
This correspondent puts a finger on
the real value of the Window-sill feeding
place. There is no other way to see the
birds at such close range. And it is
essential to see them close, if one is to
join In the wonder over their colors,
and the way these colors are applied
Everything about bird is just right,
but 1t is impossible to realize this at a
distance. The colors, especially, are in
many instances SO delicate, and so mar
Velously put on, that to see the bird
close Is the only way to understand
1t is for this reason, above all, that
the window sill is essential in any we'll
planned program of bird feeding. Have
as many feeding stations as you wish,
but be sure to have at least one on q
window Sill. Sometimes the simple ledge
will do. just a few sunfloWer seeds put
on it, In the early morning and late
afternoon, will bring succession of
natural beauties, the "pinup" girls-and
boys-of the great outdoors. They are
clothed in beauty and in light; 1t is
impossible to say where the beauty ends
and the lights take up, so dependent
are these magic colors upon the play of
lights. An old startling, despised and
rejected of most bird lovers, will then
to you become living thing of Jewels,
oiled and adorned by nature with some
of her finest art thought. A dove is a
marvel in gray and pink. The female
cardinal, above all, is transformed
from the somewhat dull creature she
seems at a distance into a very fine
little lady in beautiful shawl of rich
Paisley design. f.she wears little dia-
dem Of ice, as she sometimes does on a
bad day, you will have sat in on a pre-
view Of one Of the real pr1ncesses Of
the outdoor world.