Show are birds people all you abu have to do 1 Is watch them at work or at play then 16 you 11 ll be convinced some of them are by ATHELENE WATSON released by western newspaper union A RE birds people wh why y areal not for they work like 1 x real people and they fill almost as many professions the butcher the baker the candlestick maker of the world of men become I 1 the butcher the weaver the busy street cleaner in the bird realm birdland is a veritable greenwich village for e BLUE JAY butchers nest next to actors carpenters acrobats divers and singers but who are these butchers and street cleaners do they exist yes there really are birds which are aptly called by these names the northern shrike and the loggerhead shrike are called hutch butch er birds because they impale their prey on thorns and barbed wire fences or hang them away in the cleft of a tree limb t to 0 be eaten later the northern shrike looks like a masked bandit as it swoops down upon its victims for it has a strip of black feathers extending from the eyes to the back of the head like eke a black mask it flies low over the ground spotting its victims grasshoppers beetles mice snakes or even small birds then it turns climbs upward before it hurtles down to the ground again in one last cruel pounce you may be sure that little jenny wren does NOT sing 0 mama ma ma its the butcher boy for me e for all of the small birds are are filled with fear and run for cover when they hear the heavy rapid flapping of the sh rikes wings it is a curious fact that during the m mating abing season the shrike is a very sweet singer seemingly trying to whitewash the crueler side of its nature during the period of wooing and the street cleaner why hes the noisy urchin of the bird family who chatters and quarrels 0 on n your root roof every day the english sparrow hes a bold selfish fellow with uncouth manners for he will crowd uninvited into a well behaved robins or bluebirds nest and drive away the real owns owner hell take possession of the house you built for sir christopher and mistress jenny wren but in return hell do one good deed at least english sparrows are city scavengers gers and do a thorough job of street cleana cleaning ng in front of your house or in an alley nearby baltimore oriole the weaver the weaver the balta more oriole a wea weaver verby by trade madame oriole is a skillful artisan she fashions a warp ol of strings fastened firmly around the forked branches of a tree Z JT j DOWNY DOWN woodpecker through this she weaves plant fibers horsehair string and strips of bark to make a nest shaped like a pocket like ae bag baby orioles are lulled to sleep by each gentle breeze in their hammock in the treetops tree tops orioles are very fond of bright colors c and they are not always al ways too scrupulous about property rights I 1 in their eagerness to gather material for a nest A neighbor of mine was seated on the porch sorting scraps of yarn left over from a crocheted afghan noon came and she left the yarn in a box while she prepared lunch when she returned the yarn had disappeared as it if by magic m agic A month later her small son discovered the thief high in the branches of an elm tree a mother oriole sat proudly on a colorful nest decorated with the stolen yarna the humming bird is an artist as well as a weaver for its nest is a thing of delicacy and beauty the entire nest is about the size of a walnut it is made of plant down and dried flower petals and held together by silvery spiders spider S web covered with bits of moss mos this dainty creation resembles a babas silver lined thimble theres an industrious fellow among birds who is an excellent carpenter nature has given the woodpecker family the tools of the carpenters trade their strong beaks are shaped like chisels so they can easily bore into a tree trunk their long cylinder shaped tongues end in a hard tip barbed on both sides which can be pushed out underneath the bark of trees their legs are short and stout their claws strong and sharp their stiff tail feathers end in sharp spines which can be pushed against the bark of trees to hold them upright as they hammer away at the trunk equipped with these tools it is is no trick at au all to dull drill a neat round hole in a tree and make a ROSE BREASTED GROSBEAK snug warm nest in digging out these retreats the woodpeckers go in m horizontally to the center and then turn downward in an enlarged tunnel until the finished nest is the shape of a d ilig deep pear the sawdust which falls while the drilling is going on makes a soft lining for the nest the missus dissents the woodpecker is is a meticulous worker it selects the site of its home with care if the first attempt at excavation proves unsatisfactory the bird abandons it and tries again I 1 watched a redheaded red headed woodpecker hammering away one day at the dry limb of an apple tree his mate who was perched on a limb nearby surveyed the work of her bril bal 1 y X V meadowlark biant headed spouse with a critical eye suddenly she darted near with a loud whining char r r and for a few seconds the air was filled with their angry cries he evidently had the better of the argument for she flicked away with her brown feathers ruffled indignantly I 1 cannot vouch for the fact that she had pointed out a flaw in his work but I 1 do know that an hour later the red redhead head was chiseling chi awaya away a few inches inched down the limb after drilling in for two inches he seemed to change his mind and flew away in the same direction his mate had taken when I 1 examined the holes I 1 discovered that the limb was too badly decayed and a chip had come out making a hole in the outer wall in the second cavity the workman had again come too near the surface and scarcely more than the bark remained as protection from the weather no doubt the woodpeckers flaming head drooped with shame when his triumphant wife had her chance to chirp 1 I told you sol soil hes a swing addict singing is of course the most popular profession among birds the song sparrow is a swing addict their usual song opens with three high pitched notes followed by complicated warbling trills brills but no two song sparrows sing exactly the same song AMERICAN CROW the meadowlark thrills you with a clear sweet spring o the year spring o the year until he notices that he be has a human listener then he will impolitely turn his back upon you to hide his conspicuous yellow breast from your prying eyes the rose breasted grosbeak is the beau brummell of the song birds but he is the soul of chi chivalry to his mate for he uses his rich whistling carol to en entertain her during the nesting season he is an example of what the well dressed young bird is wear ing for he has a handsome summer coat of black and roso rose in winter he favors a duller suit of brown and rose just as human singers specialize in certain fields of entertainment such as radio opera or vaudeville sa so do the bird musicians develop their talents along one line the mocking bird is the king of mimics he not only imitates the voice of other songsters song but improves upon the sound which he imitates charlie mccarthy of irkland Bird B Ird laud land the scarlet tanager and the wood thrush are both quests for they can throw their voices I 1 discovered this trick once when a sleepy looking little owl in a mulberry apparently tree greeted me with a sharp chip chip 1 then there was a flash of scarlet in a tree nearby and I 1 found that a saucy tana tanager gerhad had used the owl as his charlie mccarthy the blue jay has a cruder sense of humor and uses his power of mimicking to frighten small birds by imitating the scream of the red shouldered hawk this is in keeping with his role as the bad boy of birdland a rogue and a bully who steals from other nests and picks on smaller birds not all bird musicians choose a vocal career the downy woodpecker prefers instrumental music hes the drummer boy the gene krupa of the bird world for a drum he may use the stub of a h dry limb about the size of ones wrist the ideal drum has an outer shell that is hard and resonant with a heart decayed and gone the clumsy crow turns buffoon to entertain his fellow birds he tumbles tumble hop holis s skips and turns somersaults as skillfully as any circus clown high diving champion the belted kingfisher chooses water instead of land to exercise his athletic skill he lives along pon ponds ds lakes rivers and small creeks for he depends entirely upon fish for food he hovers over the water until he hd spies a flash of fins beneath the surface then plunges after his prey with the accuracy of the butcher bird it is is one of the fundamental instincts mother love which makes the bob white turn actress if an intruder comis comes too close blose to her loggerhead SHRIKE nest this clever bird pretends to be lame until she sh elias has lured her sympathetic follower far from her young are birds people I 1 was never quite convinced until I 1 found a catbirds cat birds nest neit in our orchard one spring held fast to the outside wall by interwoven twigs was waa a scrap of newspaper containing part of a poem the title of the poem was aute a mute appeal dont kill the birds |