Evening star., 1949-04-19
This and That
By Charles E. Trdce1pell
ALEXANDRIA, Va.

Dear Sir 81
IT am littlsr girl years old r
"My grandmother reads me your stories
in The Evening Star every time am at
To-day found a poor little pigeon In the
back yard. and 1t could not fly. ~e@"'
II caught it and found that some cruel
person had cut Its wing feathers on one
side with scissors.
I'VE put 1t in our cellar and made q
coop with four window screens, and put
water and grains for 1t to eat. Also some
raisins and bread.
"A newspaper keeps 1t of the concrete
floor. Please tell me what to do with 1t.
Would 1t be happier to be let outsider
"A cat and a dog on either side Of our
house might catch it,
How long would 1t take for the feathers
to grow again? Would 1t be contented in
captivity?
your little friend. LYNN.
"P. s.-Partly dictated to her grand
father"
Such bird is best kept indoors.
And old idea was that If pigeons wing
was clipped on one side the bird would
stay home.
1t was never q very good idea.
Some people have tied the legs Of pigeons
together for the same purpose.
That was an even worse idea.
In the old days the tongues Of crows were
slit to make them talk"
i. The truth is that crows and few others
can be taught to talk" without subjecting
the creatures to such cruelty.
The talking" has nothing at all to do
with the slit tongue, but this idea is very
old and is still put into practice In some
sections Of the country.
Clipped wings finally will grow out. It
will take q month or six weeks.
The old stubs must be pushed out by the
new growth.
Pigeon fanciers often pull the clipped
wings out, by seizing them In the teeth and
withdrawing them with sudden movement
Of the head.
Probably they could be pulled out with
pinchers Of some sort.
This would leave the new feathers free
Such birds are best kept indoors for .
variety Of reasons. They are helpless with
out their wings. and would fall prey to ami
mails. They might try 10 walk away.
In q cage. with good food and plenty Of
water. the bird has every chance Of getting
its wings back.
After this has been accomplished 1t might
be taken out and given its freedom.
Pigeons and doves are practically the
same. Usually the large ones are regarded
as pigeons, the smaller called doves.
Food of pigeons land doves, consists Of
grains, seeds and fruits. Bread and lettuce
may be offered One time an exhausted
homer pigeon was found on a downtown
roof and revived with water and lettuce
sandwich.
They like q bit of salt now and then.
It lis interesting to watch them drink. as
their method is all their own. unknown to
other birds. That Is why their drinking
dish may be deeper than lis best for small
songbirds.
In drinking the pigeon puts his bill down
as far as the nostrils. and the water is
drawn up in continuous draught.
Most of our common pigeons make an odd
sort of noise, which has none Of the musical
quality OF the soft COO of the turtle dove.
The great passenger pigeon. very much
larger than any pigeon alive today. once
blackened the skies. but all Of them were
killed by greedy men who sold them as food
in New York City.
II you want to see what passenger pigeon
looked like, however. find q turtle dove. Al
though much smaller. this dove Is very
GOOD representation of the other bird
Both father and mother pigeons take part
In building the nest and Matching out the
eggs.