Evening star., 1947-09-29
This and That
By Charles E. Trace,Dell

Last If the catbirds visited the yard the other
day.
He was beauty, darker than usual but with
the same old gusto for raisins.
Down on the porch rail he came eager for
this fine food.
With him came a robin, soon to leave us,
This one, too, likes raisins
Other enthusiasts include the cardinal, wood
thrush, sparrow, startling.
ALI of these find the raisin Just to their liking
Since raisins can be purchased almost any
where. they make very good tidbit for the
birds at any time of year.
"Good-by to the migrator has a bit of
sadness about it, but at the same time much
of interest
Two of the principal ones to 60 are the robin
and catbird
That makes a consideration of their place in
our gardens something to think about
Each Of these is a bird most Of us take with
out thought, they are so much a part Of the
suburban scene. Yet they would be considered
rarities in some parts of the country.
As matter Of fact. so or 10 years ago. the
robin was not very plentiful here.
Old-fashioned bird books speak Of it so, and
have little enthusiasm about it.
1t was only after 1900 that the robins began
coming here in numbers
Today they are as plentiful as sparrows
They are bold, hardy BIRDS pleasantly colored
members of the thrush group, as shown by the
speckled breasts of the young.
They are fierce fighters among themselves
It Is not often that you will see bird chase
another of its own species until the latter Is
dead, but this by no means pretty spectacle has
been seen here more than once by ardent robin
enthusiasts.
Yet no bird We have manages to get along
better with the other species The robin seldom
visits feeding stations, but confines himself to
the lowly angle worm, than which nothing suits
him better.
Still, he will eat raisins at any time from
February to late October and is not above
sampling piece Of cake II you put it out for
him.
Coconut cake, we believe is the robins
favorite.
The catbird is q bird of another color, both
fguratively and actually.
Some people say it sinks.
Well you can call flying sneaking, If you
want to, but still flying is more accurate
The catbrd simply f1ies In. makes his famous
meow, and flies out again.
When he comes to the back porch railing for
raisins there is nothing at all sneaking in his
actions.
Certainly he is not as blustery as the blue jay.
He makes no claim to be bold, and certainly
he is not In the least predatory.
He wants nothing that belongs to any other
creature, and his Is claim to some little fame,
in world in which it seems. at times. that every
living thing looks around with envious eyes.
Fortunately the birds, as a group, get along
very well with each other.
Hawk and eagles manage to catch prey. but
more often than not 1t is q mammal Owls
catch mice.
At feeding stations the birds are friends. al
though taking runs at each other, now and
then. Mostly they realize that no harm is
intended and their conversations offer an ex.
ample to human beings.
Two Of the best that leave us for the cold
months are the robin and the catbird. Each
is popular in his own right, each different from
the other. but both ine examples Of the great
American bird at its best.