Evening star., 1945-03-10
This and That
By Charles E. Traceuell.
TAILS CHURCH, Va.

Dear Sir:
Having seen no notice, either in your
column or elsewhere, of the arrival of
the first robin, am wondering whether
the one saw this morning could be he.
1T was about at 10 o'clock, February
II. just when the birds came to inspect
the feeding shelf, that spied him In
the middle of the lawn. He was stand
ing quite still, but looking about as
though to see If he recognized the
place. I looked to see if his mate was
with him, but he was the only bird
about.
In another month I shall be on the
Lookout for the martins. The males
always arrive first, Ook about for a
day or two, then depart, are gone a
few days, and come back bringing the
females with them Do any other
birds besides the martins have that
habit?
Il shall be interested to hear If
ROBINS nave been seen this season
before. Sincerely, A. v. C."
"P. S. Later my daughter heard the
robin singing"
BROAD BRANCH ROAD.
Dear Sir:
Our regular summer robin has re-
turned.
For two years he has appeared Feb
ruary q or %, lighted on our bird
bath, then flown to the window sill
bowl, looking for raisins.
81 Sincerely, S. S. 81
\ X X
These are samples of the scores of
letters received about the first robin.
The National Capital has been
trained to look for these real harbingers
of spring.
Even in the midst of a great war
hundreds of people call the newspapers
with this news.
For the first robin, every ones first
robin, is news ,.
1t is the first one the individual sees
which counts in this way
Later these fine birds become COM
monplace, so that thousands of citizens,
busy with personal and business cares,
and with the problems of war and
peace, fail to see them.
Especially they fail to hear them.
Many persons, as a matter Of fact,
do not know that robins are fine singers.
Come to think of it," one says, II
did not know what sort of voice a
robin has,"
This is all too true And yet this
species has one of the finest MARBLES
of all birds, which he can vary so that
ordinarily he may be said to have two
songs, the ordinary one and the one
which he uses when he is calling for
rain"
1t Is no wonder that his song is often
overlooked, as it were, because it blends
so wonderfully with the rest of the
bird songs of spring and summer.
1t is no wonder, either, that the robin
is a fine singer. He belongs to the
thrush family, which includes such fine
vocalists as the wood thrush and the
hermit thrush.
sort Of thrush. When the English
first came to America they called the
big bird with the rusty breast a robin, !"
after their own robin redbTeast. The
latter is smaller bird, with real red
chest. and belongs to different bird
family,
Our robin is big, he is self assured
he is always looking for the early worm
ana he manages somehow to attract
the attention of thousands of persons
who otherwise never look at birds.
He is one of the two birds known to
every one. The other, of course, is the
English sparrow. About the size of
an English sparrow" and "as big as
robin" are phrases every one uses in
trying to describe some strange
species.
Take time out to listen to the robin
some afternoon and get his song firmly
fixed in mind and heart, for it is true
spring song, straight from the heart of
nature, and one which is given freely
without threats Of withdrawal If
there Is no money forthcoming. The
robin does not even ask you for food.
but in the cold he will welcome raisins,
cooked spaghetti, bread soaked in milk
or water, and even cake II you have It.