Evening star., 1947-03-12
This and That
By Charles E. TracepeH,
MONTGOMERY AVENUE.

Dear Sir:
''It was our good fortune and pleasant
surprise to come upon flock of Bohe-
mian waxwings today. There were per-
haps rs in the flock. Their tameness
was unexpected, not flying of even
though we were but few feet from
them as they fed upon the berries on
the brushy roadside near Westbrook
School. They were the first Of the kind
that we had ever seen. Are they I'M
usual in this locality?
"The cedar waxwings were common
on my grandfather's farm when was
a boy, but then only in the summer
time. We called them cherry birds be-
cause Of their fondness for that fruit,
which was sweet and abundant on those
large old trees.
MY wife has seen flock of horned
larks at Carderock on several occasions
this winter.
"A half dozen or 50 white -throated
sparrows have been steady guests at our
feeding station all of this winter. Dur
ing previous winters they would only
appear infrequently or else not at all.
I'VE enjoy your columns more and
more, it seems. But then. maybe you
are getting better and better!
Respectfully, w. G. p"
+
Dear Sir:
1--WE feel sure your readers will be in
terested in hearing Of the flock of some
80 cedar waxwings alighting in maple
tree about 1920 am. on March /.
Their flight formation while coming
in was so beautiful, we Immediately got
the glasses.
"All alighted in groups of threes and
fours over the maple tree. and at once
faced south.
"Tfe day was quite gray and an hour
later the snow began falling, but mean
while their little swept-back crests and
buffy chests identified them
These are the first waxwings we've
ever observed hereabouts, and we much
enjoyed their short visit of only 10 min
utes, for all were gone at 1890 o'clock.
Sincerely, H. M. S."
r X II
The waxwings are with us, evidently.
A report has come in from 18th street,
just where it overlooks Rock Creek Park,
that large flock of them is coming
every night at o'clock to roost in the
ivy on garage.
The chances are that all these birds
Records show many visits of cedar
waxwings, but few of their Bohemian
cousins.
Cedar waxwingS were once very
common here, sometimes abundant in
spring, but not common in summer.
The Bohemian waxwing is from
Canada. 1t gets its name Bohemian"
because 1t is such great wanderer.
Evidently Bohemians were regarded as
wanderers, probably because people
thought of gypsies.
All waxwings have the habit of facing
the same way. All are beautiful, and
all love petals of apple trees.
The Bohemian form may be recog-
nized by the white and yellow on the
wings. The cedar waxwing has no white
or yellow on wings.
Both have cocky little crests, and both
have wax-like tips on the wings, but
one will have to be pretty close to see
them
Cedar waxwings are the ones usually
called cherry birds. At one time fruit
growers Of Vermont introduced q bill
to allow shooting of this beauty. The
bill was killed after specimens were
shown the legislators. Its beauty won
its life.
The cedar waxwings have an interest
ing habit of passing cherry along from
one to another as they perch on limb.
The cherry is not eaten, but Just
passed back and forth along the line.
Such actions draw the line close be-
tween men and birds. It is easily seen
then, that after all it was perhaps just
chance that gave men more brains, and
led them on to such abstract ideas as
truth and beauty, on one hand, and
such concrete things as atom bombs.
Maybe it Is better to be . waxwing, after
all.