Evening star., 1946-07-19
This and That
By Charles E. TraceueU

Dear Sir:
This morning a robust and merrv-
hearted sparrow alighted on the in
closed spray of chrysanthemums and
nrst pecked off with enjoyment ants or
beetles, then swiftly cut away three
leaves and chewed their stems then took
another and flew of with it in his heak
Curious, thought.
Much unfavorable comment is ex-
pended on these birds. To me they are
saiaht pioneers, as many of our ances-
tors were.
With peculiar interest regard them
as remember in New York in 1879
seeing focks of them, dirty and be-
oraggled, eagerly feeding among the
coooiestones, and frightened everv mo-
ment by the advancing hoofs of the
Normandy draft horses.
so brave. and yet on everv hand
angry comments on them as invaders,
orlvlng out the native songbirds.
yet the year before T saw. while
riding in an Army ambulance on the
!exaS prairie, a man raise a gun and
shoot a lark, one of these native birds
as 1t rose singing from its nest to dist
tract its enemy 0'
The beautiful creature fell back dead
and was later to be eaten at home,
Your true title is father confessor
for the bird lovers
Sincerely, L. T. A."
= X
Dear Sir: w.
lived in Washington all NV life
until coming to Asheville two years ago.
since living up here in the hills we have
taken great interest in the birds. Have
a 1eeder, bird bath, house and a lot of
oirdS Your column is read bv MANY
OF our friends as soon as The Star ar.
rives. ''"i al :
We have black bird with white
under his wings that sings sometimes
all night. heard him first in the fnIl
moonlight. He mimics other birds and nd
night sounds. ''-'>'
TOOK IT, he was mocker, but some
OF our friends say he is a nightingale
wan you please straighten us out and
Tell us something about him?
1hank you and best wishes.
Sincerely, c. G."
X
IN the fall of 1850, eight pairs of Eng
Hsn sparroWs were brought to BROOKLYN
NJ Y. ooA'Si IL
Subsequent importations were to New
York City and to Washington D. c,
cages OF them at first were hung in
FRANKLIN Square here, but they were
later turned loose.
Ii anybody feels that mistake was
made, it should be recalled that these
olros did not ask to be brought here.
ana that they had nothing at all to do
with the matter. w w
After they had arrived, they made the
best of the bargain
Iooay these birds are all over Amer.
lea, ana In suburban areas are clean
ana bright, and much larger than the
city gamins.
Whlle 1t is true that they run some
blrds out of nesting sites. this damare
is PROBABLY not as large as some think
because If our native birds do not nest
one place, they go another. To listen
to some talk, you'd think our pure native
olrds absolute fools, utterly incapable of
taxing care OF themselves. Interest in
olrd life should not have such an un-
fortunate effect as to deprive birds of
native intelligence.
Our second correspondents bird seems
to have been mockingbird, sometimes
called nightingale.
several species are called nightingale.
including the oven bird. the veery. the
Whlte-throated sparrow, and the car
dlnal. The latter is often referred to as
the Virginia nightingale. The hermit
thrush also is known, in some places, as
nightingale. Our native mockingbird
perhaps best deserves the title, although
he includes many sounds which no re-
sponsible real European nightingale
would think of using.
l.