Evening star., 1947-02-24
This and That
BIZ Charles E. TrGceDeH

In the late February sky three odd
bird cries predominated. Listeners SEN
sitive to such things heard them above
all the other noises of the day.
The peculiar thing was that the cries
came from birds who only by courtesy
enjoy the good title of songbirds.
The birds were crow, blue jay and red
bellied woodpecker.
The cav of the crow needs no descrip-
ton 1t is known to every country and
small l-town child and even city children
have read about it.
1t is not so widely realized that this
"caw" is really musical. Many persons
are inclined to laugh when the crow is
called "songbird." They underestimate
the scope of song. The crow has the
same sort of throat mechanism enjoyed
by the thrush. What he does with it is
more or less his own business.
If he cannot emulate the mocking-
bird, he nevertheless pleases himself.
There is a peculiar rightness to the
crows cav on cold morning. It some
how seems to fit into our world of woe
and tears, and, as If these were not
enough, atomic bombs.
X y X
We tend to forget that the term
"song" is a wide one, and that the
crows song is very pleasant, too.
Especially when closer in comes the
shrek of the blue jay, that playful buc-
cancer pretender of the airways. Hawks
are the real pirates of the air Jays are
only having fun. The ferocious yell,
from the family band of them, reminds
the listener of the shouts Of little boys
playing Indians.
The jay, too, is songbird. He has
more right to this than the crow because
he has many more notes and variations.
Some of his cries are sweet and mellow.
Like the much-abused startling, the jay
has a real repertoire. He, too, knows
what it is to be abused by mankind. Is
there anything in the world, as matter
of fact, that has not at some time been
maligned by our precious species? 1t is
nothing against the starting and jay
that sometimes they are spoken i'll Of;
from the standpoint of these birds, it Is
probably a merit. It puts them into
great classification. They are one with
Socrates and Lincoln, and long list
who bore the weight of mankind's dis
pleasure After all, it is nothing much.
"Who cares?" screams the jay, and his
merry shout goes up with fling of
! of the crow.
With these two cries there was still
odder one. 1t was made by the red
bellied woodpecker.
X y x
Think OF crows cav thinned out to
a point where it is ridiculous. That
would be this woodpecker's note, except
that it has a parrot-like stridency all
its own.
No queerer sound is heard in any
month in the Washington suburban
area. In summer sometimes people
| think they are hearing the rain crow,
but it is simply their old woodpecker
friend
Can he be thinking of spring?
And why not? The birds know al
ready that spring will be here soon.
They have the advantage of us in that
their soon" is more elastic than ours.
They do not fret about the days and
| the weeks and the months. They take
everything in their stride, and 1t is
long stride, going far back beyond the
| 100000 years of the cat tribe. To
| them what difference does it make if
| spring comes soon or not so soon?
It is pleasant to hear and recognize
| bird sounds. Any one can do it with
little practice, especially the suburban
dweller 1t is one of the advantages of
his location that he has more birds. He
is missing something if he does not take
advantage of them.
| Listening is one of the pleasures of
life. The jay knows it, and the crow
and the woodpecker. The listener may
| feel pretty sure that they are enjoying
their unusual cries. Their appreciation
may not be exactly conscious, but it is
effective.
Sometimes songbirds give the impress
sion that they are singing only for
themselves and the members of their
own families.
When in late April the wood thrush
sings in the evening, he sings mainly,
one may feel convinced, for himself.
Such musician, and there Is no other
word for him, is entirely out of the class
of crow, jay and woodpecker. But they
are all singers, let us never forget, in
world where natural song is needed as
. never beforeS
4 l.