Evening star., 1947-09-23
This and That
Bu Charles ". Trnce,De11

When the ten titmice flew into the yard
that morning, we knew autumn was here.
1t was the day of the morning thunderstorm
Just when the temperature was so high that
one felt 1t impossible to stand 1t any higher
The baby titrnice and their parents took the
mind of the heat.
Flocks OF tltmice, to be followed by f1ocks of
chickadees, all returning from the woods to
the places they remembered good food being
put out for them
Birds have long memories
Robins that fly South, no matter how far
they 60, come back to approximately the old
stand the next spring
Many OF the other migrating birds do the
same. Thousands Of local residents have the
pleasure each spring of welcoming back the
same old nocking bird or catbird that was
their friend the year before.
Young titmice are noisy, excited as they fly
This is new to them, and life is filled with
adventure
For them, no thoughts of disaster, such as
human beings know.
Life is all they know and they live it. breathe
1t. see it, hear It.
That is what life is for, no doubt-to be lived,
and. as far as the animals and birds are con-
cerned, that is all it is for
For them it is sufficient.
And here are bands of staflines erackles
robins, flying in on every wing.
Here are three baby cardinals beginning to
get their mature coloring.
These young cardinals are often mistaken
for females, since the feathers more resemble
those of their mothers than fathers.
They are real males, however as a little
observation shows when they snatch food from
under the very bill of the mother cardinal
Few birds attract more attention than cardi-
mails, and none is more popular locally.
Yet many watchers always assert that to
them, at least, the blue jay Is a prettier bird
Perhaps 1t depends upon ones color preferences
Surely there is no finer looking bird than
either cardinal or blue jay. And that both
remain with us the year around will sometimes
seem more than we deserve.
n
Looking down at the baby squirrel found
almost starved the observer may wonder how
many lose their lives this way.
When the mother bird, or mother squirrel
or rabbit, is killed, the babies die unless some
kind human hand saves them.
Baby birds starve to death in the nest, but
the small crawling things, propelled by the
mysterious life force, try to 60 to food.
That is what they seek, but mostly they fall
under the paw Of dog or cat.
Hundreds are taken from these. though,
and mostly are saved.
1t is a good idea to remember that the active
rodent, once it gets a little stronger, may nip
off the end Of glass medicine dropper used
to feed it.
If it does so, it is impossible to stop it from
swallowing the bit of glass, which will do it
no good.
So the best thing to do is to use an all-rubber
doll nursing bottle.
Hundreds of young squirrels have been saved
this summer and fall by human agency.
1t is remarkable how late in the fall the
young squirrels come along. On September Is
there was found baby squirrel with its eyes
still unopened.
One suburban block saw two families raising
three and two squirrels, respectively.
Ground nuts may be offered these babies with
good results but their preference is for a modi-
fed, warm milk.
They like to have a cloth In their sleeping
box, and like all babies, spend most Of their
lives In slumber.