Page 18-Friday, May 5, 1978-The Michigan Daily
Berries
By ELISA ISAACSON
A flock of tawny cedar waxwings
perches in a small tree at the Oxford
housing complex, munching on bright
red berries.
Suddenly the birds spill out of the
tree, swirling giddily through the air.
Some crash into the big bay windows of
a nearby building, and the ground is
soon littered with their dead or stunned
bodies.
THE REPETITION of incidents such
as this has caused consternation among
members of the Oxford spring-cleaning
crew, but Michael Huber of the Univer-
sity's Museum of Zoology Bird Division
said these occurrances are common at
this time of year.
According to Huber, the red berries
ferment within their skins. It seems this
inebriating quality is the big attraction
for the waxwings.
After the songsters have imbibed
enough fermented berry juice, their
perceptions apparently becomes distor-
ted and they crash into solid'objects,
break their necks and die.
key to birds'
"A FEW WEEKS ago I had a flock of
140 birds in here," said Huber. "They
had been eating those berries."
"I guess they get bombed-up or
something," said Jeanne Andrews, who
has worked at Oxford for three years.
"They did this last year," she con-
tinued. "I was in the office and
something just went zoom! I looked up,
and there were the remains all over the
window."
"I DON'T TIIINK there is anything
that can be done about it," said Huber.
He explained that this is one factor
which controls the populations of the
waxwings, which get their names from
red wingtips that look like daubs of
wax.
The berries are beginning to dry up,
so the number of casualties has dwin-
dled since last week, according to the
Oxford staff.
"There aren't that many flying
today," observed maintenance man
Bill Klave. "They're probably nursing
their hangovers from yesterday."
bizarre behavior
0A
OLL KINDS
OF FOLKS
ENJOY
BELL'S
PIzzf!i
S. State and Packardj
CALL 995-0232
Open from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.
FREE DELIVERY From 4:30 p.m.
Daily Photo by PETER SERLING
Alcohol spelled the end for these birds
-
Reps' inv
Possible
WASHINGTON (AP) - About one-
third of House members have $101000 or
more in outside financial interests and
several have portfolios so diversified
that many votes they cast could affect
their finances, House records show.
Only 22 members reported they had
no significant income outside their
basic $57,500 congressional salary.
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estments:
confliets
Several reported they were heavily in
debt. Rep. Fermand St. Germain, who
heads a House subcommittee that over-
sees banking practices, disclosed debts
of more than $500,000. The debts ap-
parently are secured by five commer-
cial properties which he owns and ren-
ts.
The first detailed look at the financial
holdings of the 435 House members
showed that 153 had financial interests
of more than $100,000, excluding per-
sonal residences.
It did not, however, show which
members of Congress were
millionaires. Members were required
only to state whether their holdings in
any one company exceeded certain
limits. There was no requirement that
they state how much those holdings ac-
tually were.
As a result, Rep. Frederick Rich-
mond, (R-N.Y.), who has said
previously that he is a millionaire, was
shown only as having more than a
$100,000 interest in Walco National
Corp., in which he owns 750,082 shares,
and more than a $100,000 interest in
Walco-Linck Corp., in which he holds
871 shares.
The financial statements of several
members read like a blue chip index of
the stock exchange. Several
congressmen held such diverse finan-
cial interests that many of their votes
were on issues that could affect their
finances.
Several others who held only limited
stocks also had legislative respon-
sibilities that placed them in a position
of voting on matters in which they held
an interest.
Rep. Charles Diggs, (D-Mich.), indic-
ted on charges of taking staff kickbacks
to help pay debts, reported almost no
outside finances and four debts totaling
at least $20,000.
Some congressmen went beyond the
reporting requirements. For example,
Rep. Morris Udall, (D-Ariz.), not only
filled out the required form but also in-
cluded copies of his 1977 income tax
returns.
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