(Letter to the Editor, The Post & Courier, Chas. SC, published Sept. 4, 2008)
In his Aug. 28 column, Bryce Donovan said “The prize ornithological catch in the Francis Beidler Forest is what is known as a prothonotary warbler…”
The prothonotary warbler also helped catch a Communist agent in the State Department. In the late 1940s members of the House Committee on Un-American Activities quizzed Whittaker Chambers, a confessed Communist agent, in a closed session about his relationship with Alger Hiss.
Chambers said when Hiss worked at the U.S. State Department he gave classified government information to Chambers to pass on to Moscow.
Chambers told the congressmen several personal things about Hiss in order to convince them of Chambers association with Hiss back in the 1930s. Chambers related Hiss’ excitement one day at having seen a prothonotary warbler in the Washington, D.C. area. This was an extremely rare viewing.
Later when the committee questioned Hiss who steadfastly denied knowing Chambers, one of the congressmen was sitting quietly at the end of the table taking it all in. When it came his time to ask a question he seemed to be more interested in Hiss’ bird watching than associating with a communist agent.
He asked Hiss if he had even seen a prothonotary warbler. Hiss fell into the trap. He related how and when he had seen the bird and how thrilled he was, even to that day, since the warbler was hardly ever seen anywhere except in the Deep South.
