Evening star., 1946-09-14
This and That
By Charles E. Trace1peV
UTAH AVENUE.

UTAH AVENUE.
Dear Sir:
Recently l was away on q trip to the
west, was gone month When l re-
turned my birds in the garden had dis
appeared. I have always been very fond
OF birds and always feed them.
Now there is only one now and then
The cardinals always ate at the window
Sill. Now the only one I have seen is a
female which will not come near the win
dow but perches in the bushes and will
not touch a bit of seed.
Ihere were so many birds. I am
wondering If somebody could have pois-
oned them. I hate to think ANYBODY
could be SO evil, but l love the birds.
and it Is distressing that none comes
around
Il am wondering if you could throw
any light on this.
Very truly yours, c. E. L."
No one who feeds the birds and then
goes away for vacation need expect to
flnd them around when he comes back.
The birds come to our garden in large
numbers when we feed them, scores
more than come to yards where no food
is put out
But they come for the food, not for
the pleasure Of our company.
Let food be withheld for day, the
numbers drop of.
Let there be no food for a week and
all the birds 60 away. except for the
few who come to any yard. or drift
through it, OF perhaps a lone scout that
may come in to see if food is put out
again.
You see. the birds have to eat. They
cannot afford to waste their time look
ing for food that isn't there.
They must find food, because bird
has to eat to live, in a peculiar sense.
They are highly organized bits of life.
They even might be called food motors,
because their need for sustenance is ex-
treme, not as much as moles. which
will die in II hours If not fed but still
they cannot go for long without some
thing to eat. Humans. who formally eat
three times a day, and often between
meals, can sympathize with the birds.
Owing to the short alimentary sys-
TENS, food must be constantly renewed
in the bird body to keep it going.
Now the songbirds which become. used
to finding food put out for them are
willing to eat it, and do so with gusto,
to their own health and to the amuse-
ment and interest of the person who
supplies them.
But they know little If anything of
that person. and care less Food is what
they are after.
Let the food source dry up, they will
look for it for time. but soon they
must seek supply elsewhere, either
from natures larder, or in some other
yard where feeding is carried on.
The person who puts out food, and
then for any reason fails to do so for a
time. must begin all over again to at
tract numbers of birds
If he places the food out as in the
past, in time the same birds or others
just as good will come to his yard.
II birds are poisoned it is because of
eating insects which have been poisoned
with high-powered insecticides.
In late summer and early fall, there is
great change in the bird world, any
way; some go to the woods and others
take tentative trips in preparation for
their Southern migration
Here Is something nice and easy to
do. Imagine yourself bird, flying
hither and yon. You come down into a
yard and find a good supply of your
favorite food. Oh, boy! But one day
you return to find no food. You wait
and wait but no food appears What
would YOU do? You would 60 some place
else. And that Is all there Is to 1t.