Evening star., 1948-03-01
This and That
Bu Charles E. Trace1Dell

30 has just welcomed Lady back from the
South, and to these nockingbirds as well as
MS. S. Of Connecticut avenue, that means
just one thing-spring
"Bo and Lady adopted us almost four years
ago." this correspondent writes, "and we are
. their slaves
"They are magnificent specimens-a king
and queen, proud and arrogant. and born to
be served
Last year we moved to another apartment
on the opposite side of our building but it took
them only few days to find us and demand
raisins, which, at certain times of the year,
they will eat right out of our hands.
1--WE always get a thrill when our catbrds
come back. Those friendly, streamlined beau
ties with their incompatible repertoire of
60 unnoticed generally, which Is unfortunate
in view of their great talents.
"Of all the birds, 1t appears that these two
species make for the most interesting family
life in birdland When the babies need feed
ing, the catbirds follow us even out into the
garden and will come close without the
slightest nervousness or fear. This is diff
cult ever to take for granted when one realizes
the potential danger most small creatures
sense in connection with the great numbering
giant that human must represent In their
eyes.
,Our catbirds are not too easy to recognize
at once as they return each year and we have
we worked out with them the first year, be-
fore we can be sure.
Our mockingbirds, however, are unmistak-
able.
Besides many other individual character
istics, Lady has the longest and slimmest legs
of any grown mockingbird, and, Of course, she
is always brought back to the feeder by Bo,
whose clubbed foot makes him easy to identify.
Their first twins were husky little fellows
(maybe the raisin diet had something to do
with this) named Elmer and Joe.
Lady and Bo were kept busy stuffing them
emily placed on the sill, they just came right
in the open window and got them from behind
the curtain where we kept an emergency supply
"The babies soon caught onto where the
raisins were coming from and 1t wasn't long
before they, too, were investigating the mysteri-
GUS supply behind the curtain.
This worried Bo and Lady very much and
they scolded the babies until they would not
come near the open window.
1--WE were very careful to close 1t when we
left the apartment, since Elmer, the more dar
ing of the two, could not be kept away from it
even when Pa and Ma bomb-dived him.
well, one day the inevitable happened. We
left the window open. When we went to in
vestigate the sound of fiuttering wings, we un-
fortunately walked beyond where the bird had
therefore, between the bird and the window
"The little thing went for the ceiling in
panic, hit the floor, and then, just as safety
was assured, passed out Of heart failure Poor
little Elmer!
Lady and Bo looked at us with accusing
brown eyes, or so we thought. But they forgave
US in time and went right on feeding the rest
OF their babies.
Sincerely etc.
The story of Lady and Bo and little Elmer
points anew to one of the best bird families
We are glad that this good bird friend also
likes the catbirds
Few birds offer the growth of admiration
these create Mostly We like the cardinals, and
the chickadees and SO on, from the start, but
that is not always true of our catbirds. We
have to learn, sometimes, to admire them but
when we do we see again Ian old story that
all that glitters is not gold, that sometimes the
quiet bird wrapped in gray and black turns
out to be supremely beautiful, interesting, a
plain prince of the everyday, an American OF
which we can all be proud.
Do not miss, therefore, your admiration OF
the catbirds and their cousins, the mocking-
birds Together they stand among the best we
have, and deserve all the attention We can
give them.