Evening star., 1948-03-09
This and That
BY Charles Il. Tracespell
ALEXANDRIA Va

Dear Sir:
Il have come to the conclusion that some
pros, ~ least, recognize q good thing when
they find it.
=, short distance back Of my place, set
IN several acres of heavy second growth woods.
L nave had for some years a small cabin
which 1 use as retreat of sorts for reading,
study and just general solitude.
And since have a ong-standing interest
IN natural history, I have collected a number
OF tnings, such as insects, odd bits of vege-
table growth and several old birds nests
These last are tackled about the walls and
corners where they will not be damaged.
This fall, however, discovered that I am
not the only occupant OF the cabin.
"A Carolina wren, coming in by way of the
stoyepipe opening. has made herself quite at
home, taking over one of the smaller nests
for her exclusive USE
And the odd thing is that she always uses
the same nest night after night, seeming to
prefer 1t above any OF the others.
She gradually has become accustomed to
intruders SO that she no longer shows alarm
and 1t has been possible to examine her from
distance Of mere inches.
"She completely ignores the electric lights
$50 you can see why the cabin has remained
unheated this winter. Far be it from me to
deprive hard-working wren of soft berth
by blocking her entrance with a stove pipe
1t proved an ideal retreat from the beastly
weather.
II was surprised, though, that she would use
an old nest so readily, being under the i'm
preston that nests were definitely abandoned
after the young were raised.
Thanks for your column. It Is greatly en-
joyed nere Sincerely, A. NJ H."
Most birds do not care to use old nests for
nesting.
But few species will use old ones for liv-
ing in winter.
The Carolina wren definitely is one Of these.
She will use an old nest to keep herself
warm, just as a startling will fly into an old
birdhouse for shelter.
Not many birds utilize such shelters
The robin will do 1t, when he decides to stay
all winter in our climate, as perhaps a dozen
do each season, most OF them in Rock Creek
Park.
While there they seek the shelter of some
old she'd of which several are to be found
deep in the woods.
Most of our wintering birds prefer to sleep
In evergreens, or vines, such as the climbing
rose.
Common sparrows take to ivy on walls.
Some of our hospitals have such walls, and
they usually are full of birds.
There Is one institution in which such an
ivied wall easily can be watched from sun
porch on which convalescent patients congre-
gate.
Some Of them have happy memories of
watching the birds fly in and out Of the vines.
&c STREET
Dear Sir:
Il am wondering II you can offer any sug-
gestion to solve our latest current problem,
namely, some way of persuading . flock of
pigeons which have descended on us recently
to move elsewhere.
1--WE have two or three bird feeders, and
apparently some OF the smaller birds are
frightened away by the pigeons They also
present another very obvious nuisance.
Il seldom miss your daily column and want
you to know how much we all appreciate 1t
and what we have learned from 1t.
Very truly yours, G. r"
Il
Pigeons are hard to discourage, once they
discover you are running . free-lunch stand.
Short Of bringing down one orstwo with a
BIB rifle. very little can be DONE. That usually
frightens the rest away. But aluminium owls,
fake paper and wood snakes-tlnese and other
lodges leave them cold
Stopping bird feeding for time will cause
them to leave-but they will returnl They
probably have lone scout watching the place.