Evening star., 1950-01-05
This and That
By Charles E. TraceyeH
CHEVY CHASE, Md.

Dear Sir:
They made wonderful sight, those dozen
goldfnches. chasing each other through the
locust tree. ~->-.
"They were after the pods containing
seeds Of the trumpet vine.
The wild canaries seemed to fall through
the branches, on the order of a futtering
leaf; each bird slid after the other around
the big pods.
They did not attack the seeds directly,
but sort OF inched their way down to the
seeds.
Their greenish feathers, dark wings, with
the sunshine.
II was surprised to see one white -throated
sparrow with them. Is this unusual?
The group made . happy sight, and
wanted to share the picture with you and
your readers. Sincerely. M. O. T."
There is an old saying that picture is
worth q thousand words.
One may question that, at times
The above word picture is just about rs
graphic as If our correspondent had a cam
era apd managed to get good picture.
Most photographs are static, and one pic
ture could not have shown what she gives
us in words, the fiuttering of the little wild
canaries. or goldfinches.
SO many seeds, many of them Of plants
inimical to mankind.
Nothing is prettier than to watch = gold
finch on thistle.
The, long, bending stalk would not seem
capable Of bearing the bird, but, sure enough,
the wild canary bends with it. down, down
almost to the ground, sometimes head down,
but never loosening its hold.
This is fine natural sight, one missed by
the so very busy people.
How many fine things busy people miss.
to be sure! What is the reason for their
business? They give all sorts of reasons. no
doubt many of them true, but down at bottom
they are trying to forget that, in nature, they
are doomed. Damned from here to eternity"
is brave line which applies not only to
animals and birds and fishes but to man. In
nature. there Is no hope. This is so plain that
many persons. not able to find salvation. be-
gin to do what may be called 'busify their
lives. BY keeping necessarily busy, they
manage to forget what nature has written
SO plain. Others, fleeing to places of refuge
from this very business, devote their lives
to the contemplation Of the eternal Both
have good solutions. But there remain small
group Of humans who find no solace In
either. but must face 1t all, and try. as Henley
did, to build up their own "Invictus." Cod
| speed to them. So far they have missed the
| pearl of great price. but in the end it may
| be given to them.
| The little goldhpch puzzles many observers.
This is because at various seasons he wears
| different dresses.
| The adult male in summer is pure lemon
| or canary color. with great deal OF black.
| and much white.
| In winter the adult female is olive-brown
| above, or even gray, with some black and
| white.
The adult male, in winter, is similar to
| the female, but with more black on wings
and tail, and the whitish markings more
| conspicuous.
In winter the adult female becomes more
| browniSh.
| The young resemble winter adults, but are
much browner. all the other markings bear
| ing bit of this color.
| There is, then. no question as to goldhnch
| in summer.
It looks every inch wild canary.
At other seasons however, 1t Is very easy
| for the watcher to be puzzled over It,
|. Nesting Is late, often after ali other birds
have begun, and sometimes eggs are laid In
September. and young Matched out and
| brought up. A local instance of this was
cited here last October.
| It Is not unusual to see white throated
| sparrow with goldnnches.s After ALL they
are cousins, belonging to the largest bird
family, the inches.