Evening star., 1948-06-05
This and That
~ Charles E. TrdceDell


MILITARY ROAD.
Dear Sir:
Il am q newcomer to your correspondence
but ! have read and enjoyed your column for
several years. &F'>
1.-TWO days ago saw sight which I should
have been slow to believe If had been told
about it.
"A mother robin was crouched on the ground
near our walk beside the house. AS thought
she might be hurt, went near to find out. AS
I approached, she flew away to a nearby tree.
and watched until I went away.
II looked down to the ground and there was
q baby robin nearly half grown but quite dead.
"T11e mother had been doing her best to keep
it warm.
"She kept this up for nearly two days until
put the baby up into the nest from which it
had fallen, about six feet above the walk, in
one of our shrubs.
From all the watching had time to do,
did not see the mother go near the nest, so
I buried the baby
could it be possible that the mother did
not sense the fact that the baby was dead?
Yours very truly H. F. K"
Maternal love is something an animal may
have or may not have, or may have IN any
degree.
Some mother cats eat their young.
Others devote as much attention to them
as any human being might to their offspring.
Among the tribes of the air, the instinct
is well developed, but no doubt some mother
birds have it more than others.
In most cases Of this kind, the dead bird
on the walk gets no further attention from
the parents.
As long as it is alive, the parents try to
feed it, but after that they let it alone.
We may conclude that such an instance as
reported by our correspondent is rare.
It Is not typical and 1t would seem i'm
possible to state exactly or why mother
bird would do such thing, except as result
of what might be called an exaggerated mother
instinct.
If different species Of bird is placed in .
nest, after a legitimate offspring has been
taken away, a mother bird seldom knows the
difference.
OF all the species in whose nests the cow
bird lays its eggs, only two or three are keen
enough to detect the imposition, and energetic
enough to do anything about it.
It may be believed that bird intelligence is
not large, as compared with human intelli-
gence, even with monkey intelligence.
The possession of hands, evidently has q
curious effect on the growth OF the brain.
The building up of language has an even
more powerful effect
There is no telling what the races Of dogs
and cats might not have achieved, if they had
been able to develop real speech and writ
ten language.
The other day while going along sidewalk
we came across man with monkey and were
attracted by the animals action in scratching
itself.
No other four ur-legged creature could do it just
the way that monkey did it.
There was no question in the world that the
creature was related to humanity!
It is Observation-Disclosures education can come
in many places, not just in schools-to watch
such animals and to realize that the relation
ship Is pretty close.
The birds sometimes have been accused Of
being stupid but actually they have enough
intelligence for their own needs. The Oldest of
living things they have been able to keep
abreast OF the current Of life, partly because of
the lack of friction with their element, the air.
No doubt this has played its part in their abil-
ity to survive, despite the fact that many
species have become extinct through the ma
chinations of mankind. The birds also are
| aided by their lack of self-consciousness and
| their resulting freedom from the stresses and
| strains of intelligence which sometimes gives
| men ulcers Of the stomach, etc. They have NO
worry on such scores.
They are free to live out their lives without
| the repressions which are supposed to play such
| hob with humans. In many ways the birds live
| better lives than mankind. because they live
exactly - nature intended.