Evening star., 1946-03-19
This and That
By Charles Z. TraceUell.
SILVER SPRING. Nd.

To-day saw new bird-new to me
1t seemed to be alone, and sat on the
feeding shelf just outside the kitchen
door on the porch bannister.
''It was making the uck-chuck'
sound so much like the cardinal when
it lands there and the shelf Is bare.
'The sound drew my attention and
when I looked out there sat one Of
the largest blackbirds I ever saw.
Though it wasn't really black-its
head was gorgeous deep blue, change
able and the color extended down the
neck, making it look like q hood.
Then the body semed almost a red
dish-brown and green, changeable, and
the long tail the blush color of the
head.
"The beak was long and black and
the eye was very clear and round and
ight-looking or white-rimmed.
Altogether it was such a handsome
bird, I just stood and admired the
shining. changeable colors. It seemed
almost tame. And finally few down
in the yard and rufded its feathers
at starting that flew away.
1T was the style of the mockingbird,
only much larger. hope you can tell
me what kind it was.
Your articles are 50 interesting
do not miss many of them.
Yours truly, j. A. J."
Our correspondents bird was the
purple grackle.
His coloring and his 1.-the, serpentine
grace are his two main features, as
far as the average bird watcher is con-
cerned.
Outside of these points, he is wholly
vicious and should be chased away from
feeding stations intended for small
songbirds.
He is a cannibal and very cruel
one, delighting in manning and murder.
We have seen grackle fly down to
nest of baby cardinals, drag each
baby out in turn and either bite off
its head or tear off its legs-one by one.
A bird which will do this, all on q
bright Sunday, at S o'clock in the morn
ing, for no reason at all, is not fit for
other and smaller birds.
His feathers are fine, but fine feathers
do not make fine birds, except in a
sense. The purple grackle is, indeed,
sight, when the sun shines on him.
Then he shows the flashing, changeable
color which so intrigued our cor
respondent.
He also is regarded, in most suburban
yards, as sure sign Of spring, along
with the robins. BY the way, we have
had pair of robins in our own yard,
but they were just passing through;
they did not remain more than a few
minutes and we have had none since.
The robins which stay are the real
robins. Every one should watch out
for these, ones own peculiar robins,
and should take extra pains to listen
to them. The robin song is one often
missed in the excitement of spring. 1t
is song, varied from time to time.
which is easily confused with the songs
Of other birds, but once the bird is
watched and listened to at the same
time, and the bird and his warble got
firmly in mind, the observer and listener
will have an added pleasure in the bird
world, for the robin music is fine music,
wild and free. The robin, unlike the
grackle, is real songbird.
The grackle, scientifically speaking,
also is songbird, but that is simply
because he has the vocal chords Of this
group of birds, not because he knows
how to use them
The squeak he utters would scarcely
be called song, even by grackle
admirer When several are making this
odd noise at the same time it might
be called "wheelbarrow chorus" ac-
cording to one astute commentator.
The grackle, as all birds, feeds his
young on insects and worms and thus
does some good in the world, perhaps,
but for the rest of the time he eats
about so per cent grain and various
fruits. He is said to eat mice, upon
occasion, but it is doubtful whether he
ever consumes the baby birds he kills.
This he does just for the sport Of it.
One good thing that may be said Of
| the srackle Is that 1t Likes grub-worms.