Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1946-11-19
This and That
By Charles E. Tracepell.
WILDWOOD ROAD.

Dear Sir.
Some time late in September I
looked out of our dining room window
and saw on the gravel path, not 10
feet away, bright green bird, the size
of q sparrow only more slender and
possibly larger, with yellow on the top
of the head and dark markings on the
wings
when it stood on the grass 1t was
almost perfectly camoufiaged. My young
daughter and husband also saw the
bird. / had never seen anything like
it. Could you help identity It, rs I have
failed to do so In any bird book? I
follow your column in The Star with
great interest.
Sincerely yours, M. @. E."
GLEN ECHO, Md.
For number of years my wife and
had been interested in feeding the
column.
Huge chunks of suet nailed in apple
trees, window feeders, etc.
"A year and half ago my wife
died, and the only meal eat at home
is breakfast. but do not eat alone.
II put handful of sunfiower seed
in the window feeder across the table
about 30 inches from my plate and
my friends never fail to join me.
Cardinals, jays, chickadees, ETC.
'sBut it Is like walking along the
street, quite often friend win smile
and say hello You know him but do
not know his name
II have often wished you could be
at my breakfast table to introduce me
to some of the chickadee's cousins
about the same size, but with varied
combinations of black. white, gray, red,
brown, long and short bills, etc.
II congratulate The Star in running
column so unique and interesting as
This and That
Yours very respectfully, c. M. Med"
In regard to our first correspondents
green bird, the golden-crowned kinglet
would be too small, not being much
more than 3 inches long, whereas a
common sparrow is more than inches
long.
The bird might have been a female
black-throated green warbler. This is
beauty, and nearer sparrow size, be-
ing slightly longer than inches.
There Is some chance that 1t might
have been q scarlet tanager In, one of
its many moulting stages These
changes occur for several years, and in
them, on the journey back to Brazil,
the bird is a mixture of green's, yellow
and maybe bit of red, but unless one
knows OF these possibilities, an observer
would never In the world suspect the
bird to be tanager.
Our second correspondent has dis
covered the solace In bird watching.
These little fellows Of the open air
are cousins of all living things, includ-
ing men and women
We need not 60 so far as st. Francis
to understand this, to appreciate their
lives, their happiness and their sadness.
Yet their difference from us, too, is
vast. That is all the reason why we
should go out to them, appeal to them.
lure them to trust us.
This stepping across border is akin
to the many other such steps which
we must make in life and death. Some
OF the steps are firm, some shaky, some
in light, and some In darkness.
Birds and men are brothers, truly,
but not all of the birds know it, and
not all men, either. Slowly. however. the
time is coming, not SO much when
lamb and lion will lie down together,
but when there will be an end to the
unnecessary killing that makes im-
possible any real peace in the world.
II this ever comes to pass and who
can say 1t will not2 lit will be due, in
large part, to the faith Of good people
the world over, whose hearts reach out
In the early morning even to the little
oyIest9s az the ar 2ss