Evening star., 1949-02-18
This and That
BIZ Charles Z. TrdceWeU

c. N. NJ Of Thirty-first street isn't sure
we have done right by our readers in various
recommendations of books about birds.
Naming several call of which have been
mentioned here at one time or another), he
asks, in a slightly bitter mood:
why not discuss these and other SIM
jlarly good bookS?"
Tut, tut, we have discussed them ad
nauseum. as some might say. (We would
not so phrase it. because it wouldn't be true.
Books are always interesting. being the pure
distillate of mans mind, the best thing about
him.
We believe this good correspondent Just
doesn't understand the people we have made
such recommendations to.
They are not "birders," as he chooses to
call them. They are not ornthologists. They
are not even naturallsts.
They are Just folks, even as you and /.
who on moving to the suburbs, have found
that birds became a very real part Of their
lives.
These people are the retired general. the
housewife in her kitchen. the doctor. the
baker, the candlestick maker or modern
equivalent. And so on.
Not one Of them goes on bird "hikes. y
Each finds the birds outside his window
interesting, that is all.
Few of them talk about "our feathered
friends" Some may resent the birds in
spring waking them up too early,
Each one however, realizes that the birds
and small animals that come and go around
the house are very worth knowing something
about. So they want to read.
Reading is a part of knowing
To many persons it is the most important
part, for they know how faulty their own
impressions and memories are. They are in
no sense keen, trained birdmen.
That is why we believe some of the older
bird books are best for such people.
That is why we have often found it best
to pass up in such recommendations, some
of the latest books.
Those based on silhouette. for instance. e
The value of such volumes for field study
Is unqueStioned
For the person looking out window, per-
haps trying at the same time to keep an
eye on baby or a sick person, the silhouette
has it's disadvantages.
The simple book whose color prints may
be somewhat out Of date will give such a
person all they want in the shape of a
bird book"
Many of the newer works are too con-
fusing. They are written by ornithologists
for other ornithologists or people who like
to think of themselves as ornthologlsts.
Birds are just part of life for this
column and those who read it. That is all.
We take the birds as they come and 60.
and may be more interested in new work
of music or a new novel or an exhibition OF
paintings or how one food store compares
with another, or Jimmy's case of measles.
or the cats meow.
We have to laugh when we read the very
latest of the official" bird books and note
that nowhere in it is the home grounds even
mentioned as bird habitat"
Here is the Official list of possible places
to look for birds. according to this latest
volume:
Towns and farms, fields and meadows,
brushy places deciduous woodlands ever
green woodlands, pine barrens. fresh marshes,
fresh ponds and creeks. lakes and bays,
beaches and mud flats, the ocean.
Tut, tut, sir!
All these-and more, too. There is another
place. and it is the home garden. Best OF
all, you don't have to be an ornithologist to
watch the birds Honest. you do not-you
can just be regular guy. and still like
birds. Any book that helps you Is good
book. Don't worry because 1t may not be
the very latest thing"