Evening star., 1949-04-30
This and That
BIZ Charles Z. TrdcetDeH
BETHESDA.

Dear Sir:
I've been intending to write you for two
years about Chirpie. robin. A dog tore up
the nest and killed the others. We rescued
one and put 1t in the kitchen in q nest we
happened to have.
He was still covered with down. We fed
him II say him, but suspect he was q herr
about every half hour. keeping a supply of
worms and grubs in dirt on hand. After each
medicine dropper.
"A peculiar thing noticed land the real
reason for this letter. was that after each
feeding the bird turned one-quarter in the
nest, and wondered If this was the way the
mother bird knew whom to feed next. After
q couple OF weeks being alone in the nest he
no LONGER did it. - - zezs
yesessss@seSsszssss ss.srss -ss@sa-s.sss-ss~ss I
e aHe nosaFished, and gathers
grew out. always cfiirped TO him and he
always answered One day held my hand
about two feet away and called to him.
Chirpie few over to me.
Each day stood 4, iitt,e. sarthers away
sohe JearNsd to n.y. 1heng iusfxnd n fleedine'
him worm. I laid II down I'll front cf HIM
This he didn't like. but he finally got the
idea. I also put down q dish OF water and
ducked his bill into it.
My whole family loved him. He was most
affectionate. He loved nothing better than
to fly from his basket over to where I was
washing the dishes ut the sink and perch on
my head or nestle under my hair on my neck,
all the time with great apprehension on my
part. He followed the whole family around
and came to any one who called him.
THE time came for him to 60 outdoors.
At first I Just carried him around on my
finger and then set him on tree limb. One
beautiful night we left him out all night He
was waiting at the door the next morning
when we arose. For days he was half in and
half out Of the house; of course. expecting to
be fed all the time. BY this time he had
graduated to wild Strawberries, rolled oats.
raisins. etc. One day took him to the COM
post pile. where the worms were thick. ex-
posed . few and he did the rest. We felt
his education was complete and left him
outdoors.
For weeks, however. he would fly around
to each bedroom window (upstairs), pecking
on the pane until some one would get up and
let him in the house for few minutes.
Our only fear was that he was so tame he
would be killed He flew across the street one
day and insisted on alighting on neishbor's
head. She thought he was mad, and wildly
fought him of. Another neighbor was COM
ing to her rescue, when we dashed across the
street and saved him.
Along In the fall Chirpie disappeared and
never to our knowledge did we see the bird
again. Since the orange feathers were SO
light. we decided it might have been female.
I'VE watched for the bird next spring. but
no robin answered our call. although q robin
tried desperately to build nest in = small
evergreen at the kitchen door. It finally
made q nest In q maple tree in the back yard.
ut was q lovely experience for us. and we
have always wondered il Chirpie made the
grade. Very truly yours. M. D."
There is not much doubt that chirpie made
go of it.
Not all hand raised" specimens come back
each season as Lily Belle has done.
There are many reasons why the individual
bird is unable to return to the precise point
of its birth and early days.
If we stop to think about it, the amazing
thing is that even one does 1t.
Perhaps 1t is best, all things considered. to
release a bird raised by hand as early as
possible.
In this way, 1t win not become too tame.
There is q danger Of this. as our correspond
ent points out.
If bird Is released as soon as 1t can take
care Of itself. and then Is not allowed in the
house again. 1t win revert to the wild state
more quickly. This. Of course, Is essential.
from the standpoint Of its life as a wild bird
The bird turning In the nest was simply
indicating that it had enough food for the
time being. The bin will not open then
This is natures provision against overfeed-
ing. and also makes sure that the other
nestlings will get their share.
Robin babies fall out of nests more often
than the young Of other species. Caring for
them Is comparatively easy and interesting.
Feeding need not be more than once an hour
during daylight. but oftener does no harm.
Insects. worms. scraped beef. bits Of liver.
yolk of hard boiled egg may be given. along
with water. as Indicated. Live food tworms
and insects) carry with them ali the earth
$t.a ,.rsavn harS4a yAAd