Evening star., 1946-07-08
This and That
By Charles E. Trace1Ueu.

l9tn STREET.
Dear Sir:
When I was a boy, some 80 to 40
years ago. in middle Tennessee, great
fiocks of robins came through that sec
ton going North in late February and
early March.
They would roost at night in groves
OF young red cedar trees where the
green limbs touched each other all
the way to the ground.
THE bird guano would burn the
lower limbs of the cedars and thev
would die and drop off in the spring,
leaving no scar, but this fertilizer was
beneficial to the trees and they grew
in the most hardy manner for many
years after once being robin roost.
The birds could not use the same
forest or cedar thicket in such great
numbers for more than one year, but
a great many birds did make their
roosting places in the large cedars.
Then, as now, there were numbers
OF blackberry trees, laden with small
red berries which were mostly seed
with an edible red skin.
These trees retained the little red
berries till late spring, when they were
eaten Off by the passing hordes of
robins.
Perhaps the good supply of hack
berries and the choice roosting places
were the chief reasons that such large
numbers of robins migrated through
that section.
The robins were somewhat wasteful
as they never deigned to eat a hack
berry that had been shaken off to the
ground.
Since the starlings have come in
great numbers, those red hackberries
are all gone from the trees before
Christmas, and there are no more
heavy migrations of robins through
that section. OF course. plenty of robins
make their summer homes there. arriv-
ing later than before.
Those red cedar bushes remain more
or less dwarfed and do not shed their
lower branches in a natural manner
as before. 1t is now necessary to cut
the lower limbs, leaving scars on the
trees and knots in the timber, besides
causing shock to the trees and further
stunting their growth.
II would like to know if the robins
have been reduced in numbers or have
found another route to the North by
which they migrate in the same large
numbers as they did through Tennessee
in those years.
| "It seems to me that the starting.
besides being a nuisance in the cities,
has done great damage to our native
birds, especially the robin, by appropri-
ating their food supplies before those
birds return from their southern migra-
tions.
yours very truly, j. A. p"
X + X
There undoubtedly are fewer robins
than there used to be. But it is oues-
tionable whether 1t can all be laid on
the startling
We have an old bird book, published
In the early '90s here, which reveals
that the robin was not then a yery
plentiful bird in the National Capital.
We tend to forget today that this
large and pleasant bird was not always
seen in numbers at various places where
1t has been numerous since as long
as we can remember.
After all, "as long as we can remem-
ber," for most of us, does not extend
more than 40 to so years.
So 1t must be kept in mind that
scarcity of the robin, as of other species,
may be due to many factors including
time itself.
Time has a way, unfortunately, of
pulling all things down. Even this
shall pass away" said the ring found
In the desert thousands of years ago.
Only scientific investigation could
prove that the starting is responsible
for the robin shortage. and certainly
such investigation ought to be made,
along countrywide lines.
In the meantime, let us not be hasty
In blaming the old starting for every
thing. He has enough on his sturdy
shoulders as 1t is. Personally we would
be more inclined to blame the meat
shortage. Robin pie once was esteemed
good eating.