Evening star., 1947-06-27
This and That
BIZ Charles E. TrdceaUeH.
ARLINGTON, Va.

Dear Sir:
my main purpose in writing this letter is to
enlist your aid in identifying couple OF birds
frequenting our yard.
"The first. seen originally last summer, is a
small gray bird, not unlike catbird, but about
the size of a song sparrow.
"He seems to be medium gray, lighter url-
derneath, with faint bars at the wing ends I
have seen him clinging to the oak trees and
one notable characteristic is his huttertng
when he lights.
He will perch on post, or wire, fly away
short distance and return to the same spot,
repeating this performance several times. OF
course none of these facts is noted In bird
books and therefore we have been unable to
identify him.
THE other bird was first noted a couple OF
weeks ago when he was seen following song
sparrow-evidently the child of the latter
but what child!
He was twice as large as the sparrow and
looked nothing like her.
However, she fed him, and seems to be the
parent This bird is also gray light under
parts and darker upper, with faint bars on the
back and wing tips.
His most notable characteristic is that he
walks instead of hops. I have thought of COW
bird, knowing of their tendency to lay eggs IN
other birds nests, but while I know the older
cowbird, do not know the young.
"Of course, the startling also walks, but this
any starting have ever seen I have not seen
any grown cowbirds in our ne1ghborhood
though I have seen them in nearby Maryland.
I'VE will appreciate your help in these identi-
fications. We have been reading your column
for the past several years with much interest.
Your comments regarding cats are always
noted inasmuch as we own a cat almost 10
years old. The most noteworthy fact about this
animal, which is half blue Persian, Is that he
has never had any front teeth. This we be-
Iieve was due to malnutrition in infancy, and
a bad case Of rickets, which we cured with COD
liver OIL In spite OF this deficiency, ne Is vet
eran of many battles, and on many occasions
in his Younger years we felt sure he would not
survive some of his wounds; however he did,
and cured himself
Very truly yours, j. B. r"
the wood pewee.
This one Is Ga inches long, upper parts dark
olive, with lower parts gray-olive.
Most observers will see him as gray, how
ever, so don't worry because the official de-
scription seems different.
The wood pewee is a beauty, with darker
feathers on his head, seeming to give him, a
sort of hat
He can erect these feathers at will.
The wing bars are more distinct on this
species than those of the phoebe, which is also
a possibility. The phoebe, however, is larger,
being a full inches long.
The song sparrow averages around inches,
ranging from So inches to 81 inches in length.
The pewee is a great fly catcher, and usually
returns to the same spot from which it makes
its dart.
It also has a habit of huttering above a
branch. While doing this, it takes some insect.
The wood pewee, unlike most birds, is not
perplexed by persons close to the nest
Our correspondents second bird undoubtedly
was baby cowbird.
Cowbirds are beautiful creatures. They are
pleasantly colored and exceedingly graceful,
| even the young. We had half dozen of them
| in the yard in the earlier spring and no pref
! tier birds ever were around Most bird watch
| ers permit the reputation Of the cowbird as a
| parasite to detract them from fair evaluation
| of the creature living thing. It is both
| pretty and graceful, but by Matching out its
| eggs in other birds nests it is the cause of the
| death, it has been claimed, of at least five
| other babies for every new cowbird This comes
| about because the foreign cowbird baby gets
| the lions share of the food. Mother birds seem
| to be unable to discriminate, and feed most the
| bird with the largest mouth and the most in
| sistent manners. Song sparrows are favorite
victims of this willy creature.
Lack of front teeth in a cat is simply an alb
normality, whose cause probably must remain
| unknown, although poor diet might have been
factor.