Evening star., 1948-09-14
This and That
BIZ Charles +. TrdceWeI


Let us look into the diet of our wintering
birds, II they are to'be fed by the householder.
Without his aid they must subsist mainly on
seeds from the ground and berries from shrubs
and vines along with an occasional earthworm
turned up from soft soil in a warm, rainy spell.
Helped by the householder, their bill of fare
is much wider. They get mixture. in most
Of the so-called wild bird foods OF half dozen
seeds, with cracked corn, sunf1ower seeds in
many mixtures and perhaps watermelon seeds,
and Canadian peas. the latter for grouse and
the like. Few partridges will be seen in local
suburban areas in the fall, but later when snow
is on the ground they may appear, and the
peas will be welcomed by them. Few of the
smaller birds will eat them. In addition to
these seed mixtures, there Is suet much liked
and appreciated by many of the songsters
which winter in this vicinity. Perhaps this
takes the place of the angle worm as much as
anything could, at least in a sense. Birds are
highly organized creatures; their rate of liv-
ing, As metabolism might be called, Is rapid,
and their temperature we'll over 100 degrees.
Although clothed in feathers they need q great
deal of Matchmaking foods, especially when
the Thermometer is down and snow is on the
ground To help in the manufacture of this
heat, bread crumbs of various kinds are good
winter bird food and. may be added to seed
mixtures. Bread crumbs or slices Of bread
may be tossed on the ground anywhere. Some
birds will eat fresh meat, but there is not much
sense in adding this to their winter bill OF
fare, and besides that, 1t costs too much. Meat
put out in cold weather might attract hawks,
who would wreck any bird feeding grounds
in short order half of fresh apple is
much appreciated in cold weather, since it
gives the birds minerals vitamins and mois-
lure, and seems to resist freezing better than
water in dish Squirrels, most constant Of
unlimited guests, also like apples
~
If suet is used for wintering birds, care must
be taken to protect 1t from dogs. Just at dusk
looking into the yard, we saw. woody dog run
ming off with the suet basket. He held it as If
it were precious find. You never in your life
saw a dog with such pleased look on his face.
There he was going across the yard with the
basket, its white contents cleaning against his
black coat. As far as We could tell in the dusk
he was some sort of retriever, but this time he
was retrieving something that did not belong
to him. The question was how to get back the
basket, which was now rapidly moving down
the driveway. We decided frmness was the best
policy with dogs, as it is sometimes with people.
Drop 1t, siri" we said in our best Milquetoast
tone of command Perhaps the addition OF
Sir" We thought, might have a modifying ef-
feet. The dog stopped, wagged his tail and
even looked waggish. He seemed rather well
satisfied with himself Evidently he liked the
suet As far as he had gone, which was not
very far, on account of the wire meshes. The
big dog retreated and started to 60 around
the garage Again the command Of Milque-
toast-on- parade rang out: Drop it, sir" The
dog hesitated, then dropped it. Somehow it
seemed a shame, so we opened the basket and
gave the dog the suet which he ate In two
bites. The basket was saved, anyway. The best
place for suet basket is on a limb of q tree,
or nailed to the trunk higher than q dog can
reach Cats pay no attention to suet. Cats are
much too snooty for suet They want lean
meat.
Titmice and nuthatches are looking over
local yards these September days to see which
ones have feeding stations In operation. You
may be sure they will stay where they find
food: That is why it is such good idea to
start feeding the birds very early, in case you
have not been feeding them all summer Not
only will this insure you plenty OF birds all
winter. but the sight OF the winged eaters will
attract many migrating specimens. These viii
not eat Seeds but will like q drink OF water
after long flight. Some Of the misrators
would welcome raisins. At this time OF the
year do not forget the robins. They will not
need food from you, but they are just as IN
terestins Ito watch as ever, and there are
Just as many earthworms. Do not argue ABOUT
how robins catch earthwonjns. Some people say
they hear them others that they see them.
Some believe 1t Ii q combination OF the TWO.
Bone induction" is said to be the way robins
detect the presence Of earthworms fnls Is
response to the movement Of the worm IN the
earth.