Evening star., 1946-08-02
This and That
By Charles z. TraceUeU
WINCHESTER, VA.

Dear Sir: ~ : -'''' VA
1 have bird problem. In NV onin-
ion there is no one better ouaIif,ed r.,
you to give advice along that line Nav
l Hrst tnank you for most interesting
and instructive column?
FOR almost year 1 have fed the
oifas regularly. 1t is amazing how MANY
ulnerent Kinds have patronized nv feed
ing station In that short length of time
bfo study is my hobby-one tI,oroughlv
enjoyed ei41S
Recently a dead cuckoo and q dead
crested fycatcher have been found IN
'he apple orchard in which l live
The apple trees furnish a good nor-
ton of our bread and butter Thera
lore' they are sprayed with poisonous
chemcals at regular intervals.
Am I doing the birds more harm
IMAM good by inviting them to the
orcharo? For the past month 7 have
not put out feed because I would rather
nave them alive someplace else thar
dead in my front yard.
The spraying ceases in the fa,1
would 1t be better sportsmanship to feed
tnem only in the winter or all the vear9
Do many Of the birds that eat the food
put out also eat caterpfflars or tree
pests? | am careful not to let snrav oet
on tne feeding tray, but, of course noi-
soned insects are plentiful.
could 1t be that 1 saw a little hI,e
neron this far inland? For several do
ehls summer a bird resembling a small
'urkey-one with his first feathers 1org
neck and legs-delighted in nerchino o,s
a light pole. --''e oii
- 1he call resembled for all the world
tne sound made when an emntv wv
corkeo bottle Is lowered into water The
bird was drab color. -e
Larger heron Of some type have been
seen near Crooked Run, about six miles
from here. Ola iiiiies
Sincerely, "r. + d.
more and more birds are being killed
ny eating insects which have haen
sprayed. oeeii
Ihese include victims of DDT
oHos 40 not eat the SPRAYS but
merely insects which are succumbinp N
poisons. i'oihs 70
Often, as in the case Of DDr snrous
insects are lashed into a fury of action
In their last moments.
among animals we would call these
cohVuslons, and probably that is what
they are among insects, but these crea-
lures are so odd in every way almost
not OF this world fbut very much in ia
mat IL Is impossible to think of their
reactions as we would of those of ari-
mails. - GILL;
Duflhg tnese convulsions, or flries Of
actlon, the, dying insects are especially
intriguing to birds.
IT, unfortunately, is impossible tn
know now many birds are killed in this
way, by the eating of insects diving of
poison. "a
II statistics could be gathered. their
magnitude, we believe. would imnress
many persons who at present are rot
in the least worried by this problem,
reports OF dead birds continue In
come in. w
r More and more deadly poisons In
sprays and bats are being used. Esne-
claily the new gardener, moved from
clty apartment to suburbs, goes in
strongly for sprays. He has read that It
Is the thing to do, and so he does it.
Ciean culture requires too much effort.
The result Is that with the vast in
crease OF small gardens during the war
years, and the resultant use of millions
OF gallons OF deadly sprays, the toll of
poisoned insects has increased, and with
tnem the danger to bird life.
blros scarcely can be kept out of an
orcharo, put certainly in such a place
Where spraying is essential, no formal
pro feeding should be carried on until
coid weather and the end of poisonous
material spraying.
MOST OF the birds coming to feeding
station will at times take insects and
caterpillars, since all species use such
foods for feeding their young.
Little blue heron do come inland at
times. Recently flight of nine OF them
was seen over the Washington Monu-
ment. For their first two years these
birds are In their white phase.