Evening star., 1947-11-11
This and That
By Charles E. TrGceDelI
CHEVY CHASE, Md.

Dear Sir:
Maybe you can tell me why the birds will
not come to my well-stocked feeding station
II have had it out for week, without
taker.
"I thought today, with the rain falling, they
surely would fly under the little roof and get
the seed, but not one has come.
Are birds stupid?
II think they must be, not to find this good
food put out for them. 1t is in plain sight
Can't they see? Can't they smell?
IF there is anything I can do about this,
let me know, as am going to call the whole
thing off pretty soon if these stupid creatures
do not value my efforts in their silly behalf
Yours truly, A. Med. L." :
k* X
Birds are not stupid
Neither are they silly.
They have all the intelligence they need In
their lives, and besides that are gifted by the
Creator with something even better, instinct
In other words, instead of possessing brains
alone, as man does, they have what may be
termed, in sense, super brain.
This super brain takes care of them In
emergencies.
Man benefits from> something of the same
thing in times of stress, but his conscious in
telligence often gets in his way, even then.
The birds and the beasts of the field, those
we sometimes call the dumb brutes (although
they are far from dumb, in any real sense
and are not as brutal as some men, even at
their worst, have enough sheer intelligence
to take care of their daily needs. That is all
they can expect. Man has more, but some
times he makes such misuse of his greater
gifts that he would seem to do better without
them.
Birds often fail to see feeding stations, either
entirely new ones or old ones established,
even in an old familiar place.
Some of this reticence, as 1t were, must be
put down to caution.
Caution is a sense, with them, of the unusual
The unusual with them, is something to be
afraid Of
They wait until it becomes usual Now many
human beings would do well to emulate them
in this regard. Too often things happen to
people who rush in without seeing just what
they are getting into.
The birds shy away from newly established
feeding place. especially if there is an old
established feeding station in the neghborhood
The quickness with which they respond de-
pendS upon so many circumstances, some OF
which will forever remain unknown, that 1t Is
impossible to say why they do not come.
Give them time.
One bird must break the ice. After that,
the others will follow but until the pioneer flies
in, the others will pretend not to see the new
device.
This is their equivalent to good college
education.
Birds in cap and gown-no, there is none
but birds with good heads on them, why, the
world is full of them, brave and beautiful
fellows and girls, all decked in wonderful robes
dazzling, colorful. soft and warm each perfect
little flying machine that makes its own fuel,
its own power just so long as there is enough
to eat.
Every fiber of the birds is after food, so it
may be supposed that they are not overlooking
any bets, but know almost instantly when it is
put out, and where. If they do not fly down
at once, or within the time limit set by some
impatient human, they simply are doing what
comes naturally.
Give them bit Of time and then watch the
seeds and grains fly.