Evening star., 1949-01-25
This and That
Bu Charles E. Trdce1DeH

Mourning the soreness of the sedges, the
poet lamented that mo birds sing
Tut, tut
All he would have TO 90 was 10 put ou'
feeding station.
Then he would have had scores Of songbirds.
even in winter-and the world would have lost
one of its best known poems
Feeding the wildbirds is an idea that comes
as a surprise to some persons. They oeneVe tnat
birds find their own food, In their own way, IN
some mysterious provision of nature.
And so they do-birds would starve, II nature
did not take care of them, hrst OF all.
But 1t is a pleasant idea is it not, in the cold,
the snow, the chilly rains and sleet, to put out
extra food for the birds we have with us IN
winter?
It Is an idea as old as Mother Goose, but also
as new as the suburbs Of every modern city.
It came into being because there happened
to be more birds there than in the city. As
people moved outward they moved directly into
the path of migrating songsters. They found
that watching them from their windows was
rather exciting. It made their home just that
more of a home.
So today, everywhere people are feeding the
birds For them, bird watching involves no
chilly morning hikes, no peering intently
through binoculars, no enduring the whirns OF
new companions.
/ Bird watching, for the home lover is not
hard to take, but at times the newcomer seems
to have difficulty with planning just what to
do and when.
Newcomers to the sport sometimes tend to
make mountains out of molehills, as 1t were.
They wonder If the feeding station should
have a roof on it. They worry over unin-
vited guests to the feasts Csuch as squirrelS
and they make puzzles where none really
occurs.
It Is all very simple.
Just put out something to eat, on the ground,
il no better place suggests itself.
af
however is plain. 1t not only brings the
feeders up into eye level, but 1t affords some
| adornment to yard, If properly made and
| installed. Near window is best.
Feeding stations may be swung from tree
limbs, afixed to tree trunks, hung from clothes
lines put on window sills. placed on posts.
| OF all placements, the latter offers the most.
| It will enable the station to be seen, and may
| be blended into shrubbery nicely. In this
way the bird feeding activities become real
part of the garden, and this is exactly how and
what it should be.
by four posts The back is closed, but the
front and two sides are open. This appeals
even to timid birds. The food is best placed
! in some sort of container with small open
ing at the bottom.
This is called automatic word dear to
the heart of Americans The food simply
flows out by gravity. unless squirrel gets
in and rakes more and more out with his paw.
Thus a very old animal belonging to the
great rodent family manages to add little
extra power to the automatic" feature of the
feeding station!
Foods that seed-eating birds will eat may
be found in chicken feeds to be secured at
regular feed houses and at hardware stores.
Many stores sell "wildbird food" comprising
mixture of seeds and grains.
Beef suet appeals to some birds.
Sunhower seed, either by ITSELF or in a
mixture, is standard.
| So are slices of bread best moistened with
milk water.
| Raisins are acceptable for wntering mocking
| birds and many others. t...
All in ali, bird attraction is not difficult, and
| offers many rewards.
| It will bring scores, sometimes hundreds, OF
songsters around dwelling. and while most
! of them will not sing, In the true sense they
90 give many calls. resulting in combined
| sound pleasing to the ear.
Song sparrows really sing, in the cold, while
common sparrows have choral sessions inter-
esting to all but few old grouches.
Even old starlings startle one with sweet
whistles The least movement upward Of
| the thermometer causes our beautiful cardinal
to extend his song.
| However sere the sedges may be In the
song. there is no truth to the statement that
| mo bird sings" They will sing loud enough
the year around. If you know how to make
them sing