Evening star., 1946-01-19
This and That
Bu Charles E. TrdceUeH.

Even chicken bones can be used In
bird feeding, according to advice from
a correspondent. He suggests putting
the softer bones through the meat
grinder, and the larger ones through a
course with hammers
Then I dish it out on the lawn" he
says. "You ought to see the starlings,
and hear their Anoises!"
1t must always be kept in mind that
food of this character will appeal to
starlings, and that If one does not wish
this species he should not use meats in
any form.
Bread is another great startling food.
They keep scouts out just for the pur-
pose of spotting it and informing their
mates.
This intelligent species uses advance
scouting parties, usually consisting of
two birds, for many purposes.
Finding food, Of course, Is one of the
main reasons among them for scout
ing. The person interested in birds
should keep a good lookout for these
scouts.
Often they may be seen perched in
a tree, or preferably on a pipe which
carries water off house.
Bird watching has many aspects, and
seeing such things as scouts is one of
them Simply identifying new species.
as they come, is but one aspect, very
interesting one, of course, but there are
others.
To fail to see bird scouts, and not to
realize their purpose, and the real in
telligence of their use is to miss some
thing.
The starting scout sees food, espe-
cially white food such as bread, but
how he communicates his knowledge to
the other members of his tribe is
mystery.
1t has been suggested that the star
ling advance guard members use radio
frequency in their work. They have no
instruments except those in their hear
ing apparatus, and such unknown ways
of detecting unseen waves as, birds may
have. Certainly no one cognizant of
modern discoveries would say that birds
cannot use radio, in some manner. The
possibility is very distinct that they do.
The startling scouts never move from
their perches, but sooner or later, and
usually within few minutes, here come
the rest of the band.
They fly in, one by one, until the
trees and shrubbery are full of them.
Nor do they fly down in hoggish fashion,
as some of their enemies would have you
believe. No, they are connoisseurs of
living, and as such, they SAVIOR the
scene to the full before they descend
to the feast. Some of this waiting
period is put in by making soft whis-
ties, at which these birds excell Lis
teners often fail to connect the real
music they make with the big ungainly
birds.
Finally the birds decide to come down.
Part of their delay, naturally, must be
ascribed to fear, which is paramount
in all bird life. But there is more to
it than that Surely the birds are en-
joying the sight of foodi and not hurry
ing too quickly to the feast.
We have watched the startling scouts
many times, and they never move,
whether food is there or not. 1t has
been suggested that they keep in plain
sight of the main band, and that when
the members see them settle in one
place and stay there they know food
has been found. We have tried to prove
this theory. and have not been able to
do so. In many positions it would be
just impossible, even for bird eyes, to
spot the scouts.
The best one can do is believe that
the starlings have some method of CON-
municating with each other, and that
it is good enough to give real mes
sages, which, translated, would say:
There is food here" or "No food in
sight"
Since chicken bones are very danger
Gus for cats, and perhaps for smaller
breeds of dogs all of the bones destined
for bird food should be subjected to COM
plete grinding or pounding to bits. A
small amount of the ground soft bones
could be incorporated with any mixture
| Of seeds and grains, and would serve to
attract all meat-eating birds. They
would also be good food in summer,
when practically all birds come into that
class, since all Of them use insects to
feed their young.