Evening star., 1947-07-28
This and That
BIZ Charles Z. Trace1uell.

Young birds resemble young humans In many
ways, not the least of which Is their capacity
for getting into trouble.
Like them too, the birds mostly manage to
extricate themselves from the jam" they are in.
When this happens to be tar, however the
difficulty Is extreme.
young kingbird recently got mixed up
with tar used in a road operation in nearby
Maryland.
In pulling itself loose, the bird rid itself Of
most of its tail feathers so that 1t lost its bal
ance and could scarcely fly
1t was rescued by resourceful woman, who
used cleansing fluid carefully, and thus was
able to get rid of most of the tar
But she discovered that even this cleaning
did not help the bird to fly.
He could not balance himself nor 60 up, only
down, If placed on table or other high place
She wanted to know how long it would take
for the tail feathers to grow out, and how to
feed her patient"
Six weeks Is an average time for the tail
feathers of bird to replace themselves.
In the meantime, the creature must be fed
by hand, and, in the case of kingbird, this is
extremely difficult, since the bird will take only
live food, and this only if in some motion.
The bird finally was turned over to the game
warden, who saw In it subject for his skill
Even he will have difficult time with this
one.
Here is young robin who somehow has in
jured himself
The beak has a swelling on the side.
The rescuer wants to know what to do for It?
Perhaps warm cloths held to the swelling
might help, but in the main the cure Is strictly
up to nature.
Young robins are easy to feed. They should
be given ground hamburger, scraped meat,
liver, or yolk of hard-boiled egg, every hour or
perhaps every two hours during daylight.
Water should be administered with medi-
cine dropper.
In these cases. care and quiet 60 together, as
in all nursing operations. In time, if the bird
continues to eat the swelling will go down, and
it will be well
There is no way to know however what in
ternal injuries it has received. In most of these
cases, the bird finally refuses to eat and is dead
in "a hours.
Here is blue jay, found In warehouse, and
taken home because it showed no desire to leave
its rescuer.
This bird probably was young one, brought
up "by hand" after it had fallen from the
nest.
There is no more faithful friend than the
young jay. Often it refuses to go outdoors, but
insists on playing about the house, stealing
and hiding many objects including bright ones
1t will like to tear holes in the leaves of house
plants not to eat them but solely for the fun of
Reproved, 1t will Immediately 60 back to the
plant and tear another leaf.
That, from the jay viewpoint. is great fun
We knew of one blue jay that was kept in q
Washington home for over year, and became
such pet that its final disappearance via a
window, became real household sorrow
1t is always best, after rescuing and bringing
up-a baby bird, to turn 1t loose at last, prefer
ably in August at the latest so that it has time
to accustom itself to the wild
No matter how much of a baby" 1t may ap-
pear, 1t has thousands of years behind 1t, and
will revert to the wild state within a few days.
1t is best released in wood. where 1t may
quickly break the slight traces which bind 1t to
mankind.