Evening star., 1949-09-30
This and That
Bv Charles E. TracsveH

Wheelbarrow chorus in your yard these
days? IF 7''" @s'hJ0 ~. > ~
It must be the grackles, long. sleek fel-
lows In purple and black, with mean yellow
eyes.
The odd noise they make in chorus. as rs
to 100 swoop down on the lawn. Is one OF
natures little jokes.
The blackbirds. of course. do not realize
that they are making q noise IN tmitattonu uf
an instrument or senivei,icle Of mankind. q
They are just calling to each other.
Come brother, here is food!"
The rush Of the grackle wings. the odd
cries, the sight of them, combine to make q
pleasant early autumn picture.
Some of them will stay around. but their
absence would be no loss, for they cannot
be called desirable.
Usually they get along well enough with
other species at bird-feeding place.
It is in spring that they cause SO much
These big fellows, with their mean eyes,
are Just as ruthless as they look. They
think nothing at all Of biting OF the head Of
q baby cardinal, or tearing the legs on its
brothers and sisters.
Yet the grackle must be accepted in the
picture along with the rest.
It is an interesting bird, and capable
one, but lacks most Of the hurnor and clumsy
good will of the starting.
In the home yard there is little evidence
of the i'll will toward 1t by other birds Of
which we are told so much in the books.
The books solemnly state that robins.
thrushes. bluebirds and sparrows may often
be seen "mobbing him with utmost fury"
It would be, indeed. picture to see wood
thrush "mobbing" any other bird, even with
the aid of robins
The intelligent, gentle thrush does not 60
in for "mobbing" Of any sort. It minds its
business. and lets other birds mind theirs.
One Of the books also states that the
grackle's "cold and cruel yellow eye strongly
suggests the birds arch enemy, the cat"
X II
There you have about as many misstate-
ments as can be packed into so few words.
The grackle eye is Tar colder and meaner
than the eye of any cat that ever lived. This
comes about because it is nearer to the
be said to be the arch enemy Of birds, except
in an academic sense. Actually, many cats
pay little or no attention to BIRDS Cat haters
like to say that each cat catches so many
birds year, but that Is just 80 much hokum.
Some cats seldom II ever catch birds. Who
was it who killed off-and ate-all the mil
lions and millions of passenger pigeons?
Well, it wasn't the CATS but two-legged
animal known as man.
Grackles belong to the bird family called
Icteridae.
In the group are such different birds as
the bobolink, cowbird, meadowlark, orchard
oriole, Baltimore oriole and the grackles.
Most of.them are walkers.
OF the whole group, the Baltimore oriole
is most peoples favorite.
The Western meadowlark, with its sweet
warbling song, belongs, too.
One Of the most interesting Of all is the
cowbird. It comes often to nearby Maryland
and Virginia gardens, and gets along well
with the other birds. The males are rather
pretty.
The fact that the female lays her egg in
the nest Of other birds scarce can mitigate
against the male. the only bird with black
body and brown head. He is sleek, unassum-
ing, and must do great deal Of good In the
world as an insect catcher. He does not as
legend has 1t, eat insects on the cows, but
simply those the COW hoofs kick UP.
The cowbird eats grasshoppers, boil weevils
and cutworms. It does no harm to cultivated
fruits. It will eat weed seeds, and occasion
ally some grain but does little harm, since
most of what it eats Is waste grain.
AL in all, the male cowbird Is an asset.
The female would be, too. since her eating
habits are the same If it were not for her
one bad habit Of compelling other bird
mothers to bring up her young.