Evening star., 1946-11-25
This and That
By Charles E. TrdcepeH.
.ARL1NaroN. Va.

= A1k1ANG4SN, Vds
Dear Sir:
There is newcomer here. and I am
undecided whether 1t Is brown creeper
or thrasher. q really don't think 1t
Is either)
ut is brown, tinged with black, thickly
covered with streaks, and with white
spots, especially underneath where It Is
so shiny it Is like satin.
1T has long pointed bill, black and
broad near the head; on wings, center,
it shows greenish blue and glistens in
the sun.
"As 1t devoured bread and suet, I
thought 1t might be creeper, but it
eats cake crumbs and raisins and nuts
as though starved.
ut acts like a starting, but Is unlike
1t In appearance.
ITO the party who favors sunflower
seeds: Our visitors here never touch
them, The lamb and beef suet, grind
with dry bread, and even scrapple and
chicken fat. disappears first, then cake
crumbs, raisins and peanuts and all
seeds but sunhower.
Those bird lovers who have never had
a bird bath have missed great 10Y,
that Of seeing the birds crowd each
other, 10 or - at time, just like chill
dren in the fountains.
The last few days they have cracked
the sheet Of ice and gone In. It Is real
sport with them
Cordially, E. Z. r."
X i
Our correspondents bird probably Is
young starting.
These are quite unlike their parents
for a considerable time.
They are very greedy, and will eat
almost ANYTHING except hard seeds, be-
ino soft-billed birds.
The liking for bread and suet points
directly to the starting tribe.
These youngsters insist on being fed
for long time In the fall. They are
of the last brood, and seem to be favor
ties with their parents.
They can open their large bills and
stand squawking for more and more
food, even demanding that mother SPAR
rows feed them.
In q large number Of cases, these
small mothers may be seen trying to fill
the huge naws of the young starlings.
These big babies will perch on an
arch or some such place and wait for
many minutes patiently, feeling sure
Z from past experiences that something in
the food line finally will be dropped
into their mouths at last by some one
In feathers
It must, be q considerable shock to
them when no one pays any attention
to them. Then 1t is beginning to get
cold, and they have to hustle around for
themselves.
But it makes big birds out Of them
at last.
If none of our correspondents birds
will eat sunhower seed, there must be
something the matter with the seed, or
the birds are all starlings!
Practically every seed eater loves sun
fower<seeds above any other.
IHSuch birds as chickadees, titmice,
cardinals and sparroWs do not eat sun
flower seeds put out. 1t would cast deep
suspicion on the goodness OF the seed,
Sparrows Of the common sort love
bread, too, because they are practically
omniverous, eating anything from Jap
anese beetles to the choicest of bird
seed" including millet.
Millet, by the way, may be in for q
new use in the United States. For CEN
turies it has been used as food for
human beings In Europe but In the
New World 1t is used mostly for forage
or "bird seed" Enthusiasts are boost
ing it for human food here, declaring
it is more nutritious than wheat, more
easily digested. and lacking the tend
ency to tear. up the insides Of those
persons who cannot handle whole wheat.
What world, where at one end man
inyents the atomic bomb, and at the
other takes to eating bird foodls