Evening star., 1946-12-14
This and That
By Charles E. TracetDeH.
ALEXANDRIA, Va.


Dear Sir:
81 wonder II you could tell me the
name of a bird we saw In our garden
about a week ago.
"He had white strip down his back
with black wings and q scarlet cockade
on his head.
HE walked up a small tree, picking
at the bark, until he reached the very
top, and there he sat.
sHe was thin and not much larger
than sparrow, although little longer,
just beautifully built.
1--WE built box and put it on pole,
filled it with seed, and not one bird
has noticed it.
1--WE scatter the same seed on the
ground and the birds come Immediately.
We always read your column and
find that most of our friends do.
Sincerely yours. j. c."
This bird was the downy woodpecker,
one of the best.
He is the smallest OF his breed. but
he makes up for it by always being
present in suburban gardens.
He likes suet, and will take 1t from
a basket hung on a fence or nailed to
a tree, or even when simply placed
in the yard.
The trouble with putting suet on the
ground or low down Is that it will be
taken by dogs, which are constituted SO
that they cannot pass by anything with
a meat smell.
The earth was the first and original
dinner table for both birds and animals.
It is often the case, that the song
sters in winter seem to prefer to eat
off the ground, especially at some one
given place.
Sometimes they will pass up a nicely
stocked feeding station or box or table
in order to eat off the ground.
It may be that the site selected for
the feeder is wrong. from their stand
point. Since it is impossible to look
into their minds and to find out what
makes them tick, we must be content
with trying to lure them the best we
can
Sometimes a certain shade of white
will cause them to stay away. Or some
color such as red may do 1t, but not
always.
Occasionally there seems to be no
real reason why birds will not come
to- certain feeding station. The only
thing to do is to give them chance,
keeping the place stocked with feed and
grain. At the same time 1t is advisable
to throw some food on the ground, too.
An idea sometimes put into effect is
to lure them to the desired place by
making trail of seed from some spot
on the ground to the feeding station.
The next day, start the trail closer,
nd low fn loyr nj
at last it begins right beneath the
feeder on stake.
In this way the wintering songsters
ccme to feel at home in the spot, and
will in time simply fly up to the food
Of course, birds and squirrels always
knock great deal of food of onto
the ground, anyway.
SparroWs often strike sideways at a
level of grain, scooping out as much
as teaspoonful at each blow. Most
of this goes on the ground.
Squirrels, searching for their fayorite
sun1ower seeds, rake through the mass
with eager paws, often causing small
tidal waves of seeds to the earth.
None is wasted, however, since, as
our correspondent points out, birds like
to eat from the ground.
This makes bird feeding very SIM
Pile process. While feeders, often very
elaborate in design and construction,
pep up the interest for humans, they
really are not necessary.
Just throw the food on the ground,
and watch them come. If one has no
seed, put out bread, moistened with
water or milk Mockihgbirds like dough-
nuts and raisins, as well as cut apples.
Do not forget to put out shallow pan
OF water in the sun in the afternoon.
Make available raked place in the
dirt beneath some shrub. Most of the
wintering species like to eat bit,
and some. including the sparrows, like
dust baths.