Evening star., 1946-08-24
This and That
By Charles E. TrdceUeU
% STREET.

Dear Sir:
Il want to tell you of the sheer fun I
am having by following your advice to
feed the songbirds. even in summer
Some of my knoW-it-all friends, of
whom every one has plenty, tried to
dissuade me, telling me that the birds
didn't need to be fed in hot weather,
that nature would take care of them.
L replied. But Mr.. T. says to feed
and SO I am feedingr Well, 7 didn't
know one bird from another, when I
began, but even here in the city I have
identified Is species, some of which
never knew existed before.
MY special delight is the humming-
bird. put out small glass affairs, heav-
lily spiked with sugar water, and the
tiny birds come one and all.
II also took your advice and planted
petunias for them. 1t is wonderful to
have them come to my shoulder, almost
as l sit by the windowbox of petunias.
Your advice also led me to investi-
gate these flowers. I find that there are
literally scores of different varieties of
petunias. I was amazed to find out that
learned men had put so much work on
developing them. I have only a few
oPCSlCo, OuO vi tiiC IIldIlY, Dub JI1pY sure
do draw the hummingbirds.
L also have noted that moth that
looks like hummingbird, but I realized
by its ultra -tameness that it could not
be bird. Yours truly, j. D. CT
Feeding not only brings more birds, at
any time of year, but it concentrates
the human interest upon those that
come.
In this way it is easy for any one
to identify up to some 30 species in the
city and 60 or more in the suburbs.
The fact of putting out the food
leads one to take a special interest.
There is good practical psychology in
this.
In the gay COS, when a young lady
wished to draw the attention of some
young man to her she dropped her
handkerchief.
There was some 5000 years of psy-
chology behind that She knew, per-
haps subconsciously, that if she could
get the young fellow to make step
toward her by the small act of picking
up and returning to her the handker-
chief she had made him take a step
in her direction mentally.
Actually, of course, he may have been
stepping in her direction anyway, but
the physical action of handing her the
handkerchief made him mentally in
terested in her in special way.
The same trick is used by many
persons unconsciously in daily life.
especially in social and business life.
If there is some one who does not
like you, and yet you would have him
your friend, you do not do him a good
deed but put him in a position where
he cannot help but do you one In
this way he actually befriends you and
the physical and mental actions he
takes may make him change his mind
about you.
There is nothing very devious about
putting out food but it does have the
practical result of helping them draw
ing more of them to the garden the
year around and also of making you,
as the provider, take special interest
in them.
Without this act of good will toward
them you might go the rest of your
life without knowing one from the other.
When one goes to the expense of
purchasing food for them and the little
trouble OF putting it out In the garden
the action makes the birds which come
very special class of living things
Many persons who may have gone
almost a lifetime without interest in
birdlife have found this out when they
moved to the suburbs City living does
things to the human spirit, often bad
and inimical things. Recently "a big
book has been written on the theme.
City life tightens and narrows the in
terests. One must make special effort
to overcome this. Feeding the birds
is one simple way. Then, when at last
you move to the suburbs and put out
food for them you will simply be doing
what comes naturally"