Evening star., 1945-08-11
This and That
By Charles E. TraceUel.
ARLINGTON, Va.


Dear Sir:
'As to having wild birds eat from
your hand, have had those birds like
the chickadee, titmouse and nuthatch
fly down and feed from round paper
box filled with broken nut kernels held
IN hand with arm extended.
But since coming down here from
Pennsylvania I find the birds quite diff
ferent. l would not try any such over
lures with the mocking bird. There is
one real dignified gentleman of the
finest.
He will come to the feeding station
and just help himself to anything on
the board that suits his fancy. He
pays no attention to any other bird
who may be there for he knows he is
their equal both in combat and flight.
Even the evil-eyed grackle does not
feaZe him.
Having sampled the fare he is again
on his way to the business of the day,
which he seems to know so we'll. There
are several species of our songsters who
might be enticed to your hand, but not
Mr.. Mocker, so don't try and change
him. He is too wild and Just won't be
fed that way.
Yours truly, E. L. W."
X x
Not all mocking birds are so wild
Our correspondent should see the fine
specimen which daily perches on the
railing of our back porch and SQUALLS
for raisins.
So eager is he to get them, knowing
that they make the finest food for his
babies that he will 'stay put" when we
come out to offer them
So far we have not attempted to feed
him from the hand, but have been con-
tent to place the food on the railing
and depart
The mocker does not fly off, but hops
along the rail-
We feel sure that if we came any
closer he would fly away for the time
being.
The moment we withdraw, he eats
two or three, then fills his beak and is
off
His graceful tail flows out behind
him as he goes.
How dependent birds are upon their
tails! Some species cannot fly at all
without a full complement of. tail
feathers Others manage to get along
with just one or two feathers.
A young cardinal was found the other
day with just one feather. He could not
fly. Taken indoors, he was frightened
at first, but soon got over it and greedily
ate pieces of bread and milk from the
hand.
Soon he was taking them from the
floor. He cannot fly, and probably will
not do much along that line until new
tail feathers grow in. Does any one
know how long this will take?
Mocking birds often come into dining
rooms which have no screens They
have been known to make habit of
perching on the table. This has been
reported to this column many times.
We feel sure that our own pet mocker
could be induced to come to hand easily,
but lacking both patience and persist
ence we are content to let him come
within two feet.
That is close enough to see his beauti-
full colorings and note the pleasant ex-
different "look" than the young car
dinal.
First-season cardinals are colored
softly, more like their mother than their
father. BY fall they begin to pick up
Tie TeQ, Uut OIVcH Ieuldul pdI
for at least year.
Sometimes observers seeing these
oddly colored and marked creatures
think they are seeing new species, and
excitedly want to know what is that
bird?" They are slightly disappointed
when they learn it is just q cardinal
but they should not be, because there is
no finer songster, and it is good to know
him in all his color phases and at all
ages.