Evening star., 1947-06-10
This and That
BIZ Charles E. TraceDell.
"HYATrsvILLE, Nd.

,beA1 Slr.
For years iiavs been feeding the birds and
as result many stay in the yard, summer
and winter. Mixed feed, sunf1ower seed, raistns,
stale cake and of course bread. At times the
mocker and the catbird become fairly tame
and come to- the feeder as soon as open the
window. OF course have plenty Of squirrels
and several are tame enough to take peanuts
from the palm OF my hand.
To-day I had an experience which, in all
the years I have read your column, I have never
seen mentioned. AS soon as opened my back
door a couple Of starlings flew from bush
nearby and had to duck. I thought they
were adult birds but their saualling told me
they were baby birds. Immediately got some
bread and before I could scatter it around, both
birds alighted on my hand. I gently lowered
them to the ground and for about five minutes
I was quite busy stuffing bread pellets down
their throats. They soon were satisfied and
stopped eating, but stayed around.
Il suppose in a week these birds will fly
away at my approach, but am glad they, in
their innocence of danger, felt secure from
harm. You see, they were hungry, and that
was that. Yours very truly, A. w. c.
EUCLID STREET.
Dear Sir:
IT think your correspondent is more than
likely correct as to the group OF Baltimore
orioles seen In the yard at Brookmont, Md, as
this is an area where the Baltimore is seen
regularly. ALI along the Potomac from George
town on and particularly between the river
and Macarthur boulevard the Baltimore is
more or less at home. I have observed many
Baltimores in the area each year for the past
Is years, more of late years than previously.
While the number Of Baltimores seen by your
correspondent Is large, it is entirely possible,
as the Baltimore Is not ant1-social. On the
contrary, three nests in single tree have been
reported. Such a number of Baltimores seen
at one time 15) must have been in fact an
event long to be remembered.
''The Baltimore oriole has a liking for gar
den peas, but his main diet seems to consist
of hairy caterpillars, not very appetizing to
most birds, tent caterpillars moths, beetles,
including many obnoxious varieties, the squash,
cucumber and Harlequin beetles, plant lice,
scale insects, bugs of all kinds and web and
bag worms.
"A small part of its food is made up OF weed
Seeds so the Baltimore takes his fare when he
can find it, and is very often seen on the
ground. During the nesting season, at the
moment the Baltimore is on the ground a
great deal as unlike the orchard oriole he is
on the alert for twine and string and will use
almost any fibre in the construction OF Its
nest. Yours very truly, c. S. B"
-
Baby starlings, for all their size, are among
the greatest of ail babies demanding of
their parents to be fed long after they are able
perhaps, that they will fly into ready human
hand
Still, as our correspondent states, 1t re-
mains an unusual action. One must have q
kind nature to attract birds in this way. Ger
tainly they will not come to every hand, even
when hungry.
It has always been somewhat of minor
mystery why the birds at well stocked feeding
station remain 50 wild; no doubt the only
reason is that inherent fear Of mankind which
the birds work up shortly after their babyhood.
Those who have brought up young birds
fallen from the nest know that such specimens
fail to develop any fear at all Of the one who
feeds them, and later In life are much more
friendly with human beings than nest-raised
specimens of the same species.
This column insists that Is Baltimore orioles
feeding on the ground together would consti-
tute an unusual sight, indeed.
Baltimore orioles love boil weevils They
like plant lice particularly, and search them
out in places which might seem too tight for
them to get in. The orioles also eat click
beetle larvae. and ants, wasps and spiders
Complaints have often been made against
them, that they eat peas, grapes, and attack
apples and pears. Experts assert that the only
grapes eaten are from vines climbing into
trees and that most Of the fruit damage is done
by other species, not this oriole This beautiful
bird goes to Central America and Mexico for
the winter. A few Of them even to Cuba.