Waiting for you, comrade bird

“The kinglet eats 1,000,000 worms a year” / “The titmouse 6,500,000 worms”

This picture should be actually not published today, but in May, when the lark sings and the nightingale replies, and the pioneers turn out to the fields in flower to celebrate the Bird Day. Yet its place is here after the previous post.

The celebration of the Bird Day began in the United States in 1894, in order to make students aware of the usefulness of the birds and the importance of protecting them. The celebration quickly spread around the world. The European countries signed an agreement in Paris in 1902 on the protection of useful birds, and within a couple of years most of them introduced by law the Bird Day in the curricula.

In Russia the Bird Day was organized again after the pre-war beginnings in 1927 by the great biologist and nature conservationist Nikolai Dergunov, suitably on the Sparrow Hill in Moscow, where he set up nesting places for the birds. The event was also attended by Mayakovsky, whose dacha was nearby. On this occasion he composed the poem Waiting for you, comrade bird, which has since become the compulsory repertoire piece of the Bird Day until the late 1970s, when the celebration silently died out of the Soviet curriculum.

Removal of some not useful birds from the Kremlin, 1935

МЫ ВАС ЖДЕМ, ТОВАРИЩ ПТИЦА, ОТЧЕГО ВАМ НЕ ЛЕТИТСЯ? Несется клич       со всех концов, несется клич       во все концы: – Весна пришла!       Даешь скворцов. Добро пожаловать, скворцы! – В самом лучшем месте самой лучшей рощи на ветке       поразвесистей готова жилплощадь. И маленькая птица с большим аппетитцем. Готовы       для кормежки и зерна       и мошки. Из-за моря,       из-за леса не летят       скворцы,             пока пионеры       сами лезут на березины бока. Один       с трубою на носу уселся       аж на самый сук. – Вспорхнуть бы       и навстречу с приветственною речью. – Одна заминка: без крылышек спинка. Грохочет гром       от труб ребят, от барабана шалого. Ревут,       кричат,             пищат,                   трубят. – Скворцы,       добро пожаловать! – Бьют барабаны бешеней. Скворцы       погоды вешней заждались за лесами, – и в жданьи безутешном ребята       по скворешням расположились сами. Слетит       скворец             под сень листов, сказать придется:             – Нет местов! – Хочу,       чтоб этот клич             гудел над прочими кличами: – Товарищ,       пионерских дел не забывай       за птичьими.

WAITING FOR YOU, COMRADE BIRD, WHY DON’T YOU FLY? A cry is flying       from every side, a cry is flying       to everywhere: – Spring has come!       With starlings! Welcome, starlings! – On the best place of the best tree all along       the branches the flat is ready. Little birds with great appetite. They are ready       to devour seeds and       flies. From over the       sea and forest the starlings       won’t fly             until the pioneers       don’t climb to the peak of the birch. One of them,       with a pipe on the nose has sat down       at the end of the branch. – I would fly off       to encounter them with a welcoming speech. – There’s just one hitch: its hard to fly without wings. Thunder rumbles       from children’s pipes, from crazy drums. Roaring,       shouting,             beeping,                   hooting. – Starlings,       welcome, starlings! – Beating the drums in race. The starlings who       over the forest waited for winter to pass – now cannot have a rest: the children       themselves covered the branches of the trees. Flies       the starling             under the leaves, and it returns:             – Every place is full! – I want       this cry             to outvoice every other cry: – Comrade,       let the birds not make you forget       that you’re a pioneer.

Selecting a location for the statue of Mayakovsky, 1956

But to have also something current for today, here I include the archive photos of some further parades from the period. And those who want to know how they celebrated this day exactly 75 years ago, should check back to our respective report.