Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1904-12-17

and respond SO readily 10 ehVirohiheh'
that they furnish the scientist with the
best Illustration Of the working out OF
natural laws. The second Is an eco
nomic one. BY preventing the undue
increase of insects and small rodents
and acting as scavengers they probab-
" prevent the earth from becoming
uninhabitable.
Then, being the most conspicuous
of the higher animals, they may be the
most easily studied. They are the most
eloquent of natures voices, and sur
passing in grace and beauty. They
exhibit the most exquisite human
traits of character in their home life.
And, last Of all, the individual bird
lives in the species. The robins song
Is the same In our age as IN our you'h'
so that birds never seem to grow OLD.
They bring back to us more vividly
than anything else in nature the men,
cries of youth, and are the closest BOND
between man and nature.
But how shall we study them? We
cannot pick them, like flowers, or In
pale them on pins, like bugs. The
means of close study resolves itself
into the opera or field glass. But |
would not antagonize child by TOO
scientific attitude at first. A person
may love birds and hate OrnithOlogy.
I would present the human side of the
birds life at first-something like the
| experience Of the little girl l knew In
Virginia, who tanned chipping spar
row SO that 1t came to her every, day
to be fed.
Never make bird into human be-
ing. A bird is far more interesting as
a bird than dressed up in false cloth
ing. But take up first the points OF
human interest in the birds life. Don't
try to teach children to observe birds
in classes or families at first. Begin
with the seasons. Why concern our
selves with birds of summer when the
snow is on the ground? l would sug.
gest beginning the study of birds IN
winter, when there are the fewest
birds. AS each season comes in, teach
the child to recognize the birds that
come with that season. The first in.
terest in birds is reused when he
learns to know them by sight, and ever
after his bird pictures will rest In
lovely framework Of the passing sea-
sons.
How will the museum help you in al
this? The museum has, first, gen
eral collection of birds Of the world
then a general collection Of all birds
found within fifty miles Of New York
In the latter, In addition to the tive
cases of permanent residents, there Is
q case of seasonable birds. You neet
not hunt out the birds of each season
In the general collection. To-day yor
will find the October birds In tina,
case, and next week the November
birds Of this region, and, Furthermore
upon your request the museum VII
send you a little travelling museum OF
the seasons birds. to remain in YOU
classroom three weeks.
AS soon as the child learns to know
the bird by sight he wants to know
more of it. The first classification Of
his knowledge Is to lead MS attentlOl
to the fact that one-half Of all know
birds, and eighty or ninety per cent o.
all that come under his observation
belong to the class Of perching birds
distinguished by toes Of great graspin'
power. All the perching birds are al
vided into not more than seventeen
or eighteen families. Some prOminen
member of each family is general.
known to the pupils, and with tn
cases of birds from the museum 1t i
not q difficult thing to learn the dis
tingulshing marks of each family.
The beauty Of bird study Is that
does not end with school days, blu
life. A child will find out that certain
birds have certain we'll defined haunt
and he will learn where to look TO
them. When the apple trees are II
blossom they are always full or orr
oles, and, curiously enough, the oriol
always arrives In this section just n
the apple trees begin to bloom. >
each bird has the haunt it loves.
After some knowledge Of seasons an
types has been attained the after
ton is turned to nests. The detache
nest brought by the teacher to til
schoolroom is Of some interest as
specimen Of bird architecture. Blu
the real interest of the nest lies in tn
place where it is built. That tells tn
whole tale Of the birds life; and SO a
the nests I'm the museum are shown
placed in their original location. HO'
much more interesting, for example
is the bank swallows nest when W
see the sandbank, riddled with hole
like a pepper box, with the nests SOM
times three feet in from the. sprfa G.
Birds change their nesting habits a
cording to their surroundings, bot
natural and artificial. The hlac
crowned night herons OF Long lslnl
build their nests in trees seventy
eighty feet high. But in wild Man
toba the same bird builds low anon
the reeds. All along the Atlant
coast the tishhawks build in tall tree
but Oh GARDENERS Island, where II
owner has protected them for year
they build fiat upon the ground, II
most marked example | have ev
known of a variation of habit to me
artificial conditions. Sometimes inc
rldual birds will adapt their nests
special conditions, like the shape
walls, in a way that betrays actu
intelligence.
After the nest comes the egg. J
1t is believed that the birds descend'
from reptiles, and as all reptiles il
white eggs, it is believed that
birds originally laid only white egg
Color has come for protection. I'll
is proved by the fact that all bir
that lay in protected places, like ow
and wOOdpeckers, lay white egg
while all that lay in exposed plac
are almost exactly like their surrOun
lngs. The terms egg in the op
, beach cannot be distinguished fro
the beach pebbles without close
In xx,l,i a.