Evening star., 1949-07-13
This and That
By Charles E. TraceUeH

Out Of the deep blue yonder, as the song
says. come three letters about birds. One
tells the story of an old man and a young
man. D. D. writes
An old man got off the streetcar at
Tenth and Pennsylvania avenue. He crossed
the Avenue and bought two of the familiar
red packages of raisins.
Then he went down Tenth street. study
ing the shrubbery and trees as he passed.
At Tenth and Constitution avenue he saw
a flash OF gray and white. and threw few
raisins under the bushes, knowing the mock
ingbird would find them.
He did the same for Knockers at several
other points, and then gave a few nuts to
the squirrels
Shortly afterward he reported for work
at one OF the Government buildings and his
boss notified him that he was being dis
placed by a veteran.
He is out Of job now and being old
and nonveteran he is not wanted. The
Knockers and the squirrels will not miss him.
they will miss only the nuts and raisins
unless some one else carries on. He could
not leave that chore to the husky young
man who displaces him.
More wildlife at doors and windows
This is the plea of M. L. r. of Huidekoper
place. who writes:
Il have found it not only important to
feed the wild creatures of winter, when
snow and ice cover their natural food, but
also to put out suet, bread crumbs, wild
bird seed and sundower seed in spring and
summer when the creatures are raising
families.
Feed. then, during June and July, also
August, If we city dwellers wish to keep
wild life near. The playful squirrels and
even the chipmunks come to our feeding
station.
wherever there are trees, there are birds,
in the parks and along the streets, even
in the downtown sections.
Even though the trees are full of insects
and their larvae and eggs the birds need
more food and appreciate food easier to get.
"Sunf1owers attract the cardinal and
others, and window box the humming-
Bird
For less experienced persons it should
be pointed out that all baby birds are fed
on insects and worms, even the seed eaters
1t is for this reason that ground meat
Is such an excellent bird food at this time.
Not only will it be carried to the babies,
but the mother and father bird will stop
to eat, too, something they do not always
do when holding live, wriggling thing in
the beak.
If platter of meat is displayed, it should
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get it.
suet too, needs some protection, since
dogs like it.
The cardinal is especially fond of meat.
He takes great deal of it to his babies.
Here is the simple story of screech owl,
from N. T. of Mclean, Va.
She writes:
"One day my husband was over in the
woods and he heard noise in an old
hollow tree that the wind had blown down
during storm.
HE found two white fuzzy birds. When
he brought them home, didn't know what
to feed them at first.
II gave them cooked oatmeal, but from
their bills knew that they ate meat.
$50 got some beef from the deep freeze
and fed the one that survived.
1T grew so fast and was so noisy that
we couldn't sleep at night. Every time
something made noise he was awake and
just carried on.
HE wouldn't stay where wanted him to-
so sent him to the Zoo. The man there
said it was screech owl. hope Butch is
happy"
1t is always good plan to leave birds
found in what seems to be deserted nest,
and then come back later to see if the
parents have returned.
Some species will not appear when humans
come around. They seek secluded place,
and so make the finder think the nest is
deserted.
We once thought a wren nest was de-
serted. There were five eggs But three
hours later the parents returned. They prob
ably had been hiding in the shrubs all along.