Evening star., 1948-05-10
This and That
BIZ Charles E. Trace,UeH

A rainy day has many uses, one of the best
of which is to watch birds.
The songsters like rain, and make the most
of it-something not all humans do, despite
their superior wisdom.
To be able to get the most out of anything
especially rainy day-is to know how to live.
Sometimes one is inclined to feel that many
persons do not know how to handle even so
pleasant thing as rain.
They growl about 1t, even few drops when
all the time the flowers and grass and shrubs,
to say nothing of the crops, need water more
than they do food.
Moisture is essential, of course, for such
growing things not only as water, but as the
solvent through which they get their eats"
There is team play In nature
All things, if let alone, work together for
the ultimate good of the whole.
Myrtle warblers for instance, find black
plant lice on althea bushes.
The rain drives the lice to the undersides
of leaves where all the man-made sprays
scarcely reach.
The warblers reach, though-round the leaf
they bend to take In the fine food which the
aphids represent to bird life.
Their white throats and yellow spots-how
beautiful they look in the rain! And both
plant and bird are helped.
Plants are cleared OF pests, birds are fed, all
in one operation.
of sneering persons to underestimate the work
done for us by the birds.
They do great deal by taking their food
as they do
They do great deal for us by singing the
way they do.
They aid us immensely by being as beautiful
and interesting as they are.
They undoubtedly act as monitors, or good
sermons, to erring mankind. Even if we fail
to heed their warnings, no doubt we gain
something from them in this way
Consider daylight saving
Just what daylight is saved" for, no one
seems to know exactly, but at least it results in
getting millions Of people up earlier, and to
bed earlier.
And that. folks is just what the birds have
been practicing all these centuries
Birds appear more brilliant on rainy day.
There is no flash in the air quite like that of
our cardinal
Except, of course, two cardinals.
During rainy Sunday, one redbird few
in to sample the ground beef on the back
porch.
just as he tlashed-and it was true flash
onto the porch. another male few at him.
The mixture of the two redbirds for a second
made real splash-something well worth
seeing.
1t was amazing to watch how closely they
few to the porch, and how narrowly but COM
plctely tIcy IulSSeu HlttlNS aLyIIllnS.
The whirl and whirr of color in the air acted
as sight for sore eyes, an Old odd saying
without much sense to it, but one which gives
an idea.
sight must be medicinal. If it is good for
bad eyes.
It must Soothe.
Bird sights are as good as any, If they are
not peered ut. Peering, especially on rainy
foggy days, Is not good for the eyes, either well
or ILL.,
The way to look at birds, to get the most
benefit from the exercise, is casually, without
effort, lacking strain. free and easy.
This can be done with little thought and
still at the same time one Is able to catch
all the salient points Of new species, or the
beauty and interest Of an old one.
Moisture in the air magnifies the beauty Of
birds, also Of their natural habitat features
including the trees, shrubs vines. flowers and
grass.
Be sure you have Ill ef them In ycsr own
little habitat group