Evening star., 1946-09-25
This and That
By Charles +. Trdce1DeH.
ARLINGTON, Va

Dear Sir:
Among the many birds one sees in
our meadow these days, there is one that
I cannot name
This bird was about 10 or IL inches
long, gray back and almost white breast,
strong beak like q woodpecker, but his
outstanding point was that he could run
like sprinter
He would do this for about so to 60
feet, then stop and peck some morsel
he saw, then OH again like the wind
always running
He stayed around for two days, and
then was gone. I have seen his kind up
IN some of those Northern marshes
during summer. Could you name him,
perhaps, and oblige?
Yours with interest, E. L. W."
X
ARLINGTON.
Dear Sir:
There appeared on our lawn after
4:30 pm. beautiful, dignitied bird,
resembling a pigeon. However, I saw
Immediately 1t was not common pigeon,
as it was slender, with q long neck,
around which was an inch-wide green
band, which glistened in the sun. Below
this was black shoulder cape. The
body was beautiful gray, with an inch
wide band dark across the broad tail
feathers
THE legs were red. The eye had 4
reddiSh-brown tinge and looked squarely
at me as 1 raised the porch curtain to
see it more clearly
The head was slender, sloping back
to the neck. The beak was white, and at
first I thought 1t had a small piece of
bread In it, but found when 1t flew on
the bath, 1t was still there.
In its dignified movements it paid no
attention to other birds, nor did they
seem to notice this lovely creature of the
bird world. About pm. 1t settled quietly
on the lawn, as if for the night, but
later was gone.
Gould it have been a special carrier
pigeon? It's eyes seemed almost intel
ligent. Cordially, E. E. H."
These two letters find us in q non-
identifying mood, so we leave 1t up to
readers to tell us and these correspond
ents what these birds are
Answers will be forwarded.
We would like to take this opportunity
to state that all letters to this column
are signed, with proper address, as
evidence of good faith.
No names are used, for many good
reasons. and only the indication of loca-
tion, but the full signed name and ad-
dress must be present, II a letter Is to
be considered
Practically all Of our readers under
stand this, but it is for the few who do
not seem to.
If you have any ideas as to these birds,
simply label them No. and No. 2, with
your idea of the name Of each
1t may be that No. is the sora, or
common rail.
1t also goes by the name of mud hen,
water hen, chicken-bill, ETC.
No. may be q fancy pigeon
There are many of the fancier sort of
pigeons in and around Washington
Some of them are really marvellous.
Occasionally one gets loose and, drop
ping down in q suburban community is
likely to be a source of amazement to
the average bird lover, or any one else,
for that matter, who has not realized
just how fancy" some pigeons are.
We are so used to the big, laundering
common pigeon, with his marvellous
appetite and wonderful flying ability,
that we fail to realize that there are
pigeons and pigeons, rs the phrase goes.
Some of them waltz, some tumble,
some have varying colorS some are
stream-lined and others are on the fatty
side.
When we speak of pigeons, therefore.
we take in a large group, which, added
to their cousins, the doves, include many
strange ones. at least to an average eye.
1t is the same with hens. You may think
all hens are hens--but have you ever
seen q rose e-comb silky?