Evening star., 1949-10-28
This and That
1 flccWeH
18th STREET.

Dear Sir:
Il recently had for the first time new
sparrow, at least new to me. It had some
yellow on its head, and a white stripe, and
some more white just below its bill, going
down to the body proper.
Birds seem to me such neckless sort Of
creatures, but this white would have been
on the neck if the bird had neck, but its
head sat right on its body. guess as they
all do.
This is mixed up description, but maybe
you can tell what am talking about. It
is a nice bird, and hope it remains.
Il wish to thank you as q voice crying
in the wilderness of fallen leaves for their
proper use as compost. not as burning. I
hope it does some good.
Sincerely. M L."
The bird is the white -throated sparrow.
It flies in from the north at this time
of year. and this is it's farthest south, for
tunately for us, because there is no finer
bird
Along with the song sparrow, which re-
mains here, and an occasional white
crowned sparrow, it helps make up fine
trio.
The white throat. as it is called for short,
is just bit better than inches long, which
makes him good sized sparrow.
He is rusty brown bird, streaked with
black, with underparts white and gray.
His crown is black, divided by line Of
white. with broad stripe of yellow just
over the eye.
The conspicuous white patch covers the
chin, upper throat and part of the cheek
region.
The throat is the neck, that is, where the
throat is may be called neck. although the
bird has no elongated neck where a necktie
might be if it were human.
This sweet singer sees no need of being
human. He is quite satisfied with being a
bird. as they all are. They know nothing
OF our politics, our incessant disagreements
and general human nastiness. One should
stop and try to wonder, now and then, Just
what life and the world must look like to
the animals and the birds. They see us, all
right, but they have no way of understand
ing us. They see the latest inventions of
man, including his screaming automobiles,
and yet these cars cannot actually exist
at least as automobiles, in the little minds
of the animals and birds. To them, the only
actualities are each other, their enemies,
both animal and bird, and the everyday
round OF life, including eating and drinking.
Sometimes we humans are inclined to Sneer
at the peasantry of all countries, in that
they have little small talk" know nothing
of literature, and would not understand" a
symphony if they heard one. Actually, all
such folk merely emulate the animals and
birds, and to that extent must secure an
inner peace and freedom from the upsetting
features of civilization we might all envy.
The song of the white throat will not be
heard here much, but occasionally it sounds
FORTH one note then another Of equal length
but higher, then series of tremoloed notes
on the same note as the second higher one
The effect Is striking, showing how a
theme, as it were, may be created in nature
from the most simple material.
The white-throated sparrow eats plenty
of weed seeds, and thus is good bird to
have around. It is very easy to say, because
one cannot see it, that each such bird does
very little. Actually, each such bird does q
great deal. The amount of seeds eaten is
larger than you think, and added to the
a real attack on a common problem.
Sometimes watchers become confused
about the difference between the white
throated sparrow and the white-crowned
sparrow. The latter is a somewhat smaller
bird, with two broad bands of black inclos-
ing a central one of white, and this white
extends down to the eye, giving an almost
plumy appearance.
The white crowned sparrow does not have
the yellow on the head and has no white
patch on the throat.
The white crowned sparrow has what may
be called dome-shaped head, and it Is
this which makes his white stripe on the
head seem to stand up bit.
The white-crowned sparrow also is a great
weed seed eater. It is sometimes accused
of eating buds and blossoms of fruit trees,
but investigation shows there is very little
evidence for this. ,->. e, .. ..,