Evening star., 1947-05-22
This and That
Bu Charles E. Trnce1DeH.
ZOO.

Dear Sir:
"Many birds are now engaged In the duties
of rearing their broods. Therefore. with
yo,tr permission, desire to add few ornltn-
illogical notes to your splendid column.
"Soon the winds and rains Will come ana
MANY Young birds will be tossed from their
nests. with the possibilities that their fra1l
bodies will not survive. For this Is the time
of nesting birds. One observes many young
birds upon the wing while others are IN their
nests being cared for by their parents. 1t Is
critical time In birddom.
"Those who have taken time out to observe
the home life of birds have enriched their
knowledge of nature The commonest method
of feeding Is that of the old bird putting its
bill, containing food, far down into the throat
of the young. This prevents any live insects
from escaping.
with all the birds there Is a nervous ad-
justment which prevents overfeedlng. Bros
do not feed their young In rotation, as one
might expect, but ordinarily they feed the
hungriest one first and continue to feed him
until some other one gets hungrier and
stretches its neck further and cries louder.
This might seem as If it would result In
overfeeding the largest young. but fortunately
when the young bird has enough, It's throat
muscles refuse to work.
so after each feeding the old bird looks
down into the throat Of the young one and
If the bug is not promptly swallowed, she takes
1t out again and gives it to one OF the other
birds.
"Many Young birds will be picked up from
the ground and taken into homes, where the
foster mother will attempt to administer 70 the
hunger pains of the baby.
"The phone rings-a voice very anxious ana
sincere asks me what to feed baby bird.
Therefore may I offer the following sug-
gestions:
First. if one finds bird that has been
parted from its nest, please attempt to restore
it to its home.
1.-THE parents know more ABOUT Ieeoln8 tneu
young than any one else.
Second, if it is impossible to locate its nest
or parents, attempt to feed it by hand One OF
the most satisfactory and yet simple formulas
is that of equal parts of raw hamburger, grated
boiled eggs bread crumbs and pablun1, mixed
together and rolled into tiny balls.
These can be given to small bros oy means
of tweezers.
"The rule is to feed little. but often. The
amount of food which birds, especially insecti-
vorous Species require is always surprise to
one observing it for the first time.
THE well-known experiment of feeding
young robin all the earthworms it could eat
at the time of leaving the nest can scarcely
be improved upon.
"The result with the original robin expert
earthworms in one day.
Experiments with young crows have shown
that they require at least half their weight
of food each day merely to exist, and that
they can easily consume food equivalent to
their full weight each day.
Many birds that are fed by hand starve
to death, for their feeders do not realize how
much food is required.
Therefore feed young birds all they will
accept for their little bodies are intense ma
chimes and fuel is constantly needed.
"As guide to when to expect the bird babies,
the following observation may be in order. It
is brief summary of the home life of the
robin made several years ago:
Nest building, 10 days: egg laying, 5 days;
brooding, Is days. and nest feeding, II days
Sincerely, M. D."
This letter, from Malcolm Davis, in charge
of bird life at the National Geological Park,
contains so much information that all persons
interested in our songsters should clip it out
and put 1t away for time Of need.
This not only would help them, and the
birds but also 1t would save many hours on
the phone both for Mr.. Davis and myself, not
that we aren't glad to do it, but there are so
many young birds constantly falling out Of
nests!