The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1905-03-11

Il Sons why We should study
b II birds. The first IL scien-
4 tific one, because birds are
~0 very sensitIvely organized
and respond 30 readily to environment
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 scayengers they prObab-
ly prevent the earth from becoming
uninhabitable.
Then, being the most conspicuous
of the higher apimals, they may be the
most easily studied. They are the most
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
1s the same In our age as In our youth,
so that birds never seem to grow old.
They bring back to us more wildly
than anything else in nature the mem
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 i'm
pale them on pins, like bugs. The
means of close study resolves itself
into the opera or field glass. But 1
would not antagOnize child by u 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
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 ut first. Begin
with the seasons. Why concern our
selves with birds of summer when the
snow is on the ground? would sug-
gest beginning the study Of birds in
winter, when there are the fewest
birds. As each season comes irs 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 all
this? The museum has, >6rst, gen
eral collection of birds OF the world,
then a general collection of all birds
found within nifty miles of New York.
In the latter, in addition to the two
cases of permanent residents, there is
a case of seasonable birds. You need
not hunt out the birds OF each season
in the general collection. To-day you
will ind the October birds In that
case, and next week the November
birds Of this region, and, furthermore,
upon your request the museum will
send you little travelling museum Of
the seasons birds. to remain In your
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 il to lead his attention
to the fact that one-half Of all known
birds, and eighty or ninety per cent. Of
all that come under his observation,
belong to the class Of perching birds,
distinguished by toes of great grasping
power. All the perching birds are di-
vided into not more than seventeen
or eighteen families. Some prominent
member Of each family is generally
known to the pupils, and with the
not difficult thing to learn the dis
tinguishing marks Of each family.
The beauty Of bird study Is that 1t
does not end with school days, but
life. A child will find out that certain
birds have certain well defined haunts
and he will learn where to look for
them. When the apple trees are in
blossom they are always full of orr
oles, and, curiously enough, the oriole
always arrives in this section just as
the apple trees begin to bloom. So
each bird has the haunt 1t loves.
After some knowledge Of seasons and
types has been attained the atten-
ton is turned to nests. The detached
nest brought by the teacher to the
schoolroom is of some interest as
specimen Of bird architecture. But
the real interest Of the nest lies In the
place where 1t is built. That tells the
whole tale of the birds life; and so all
the nests in the museum are shown as
placed In their original location. How
much more interesting, for example,
ID the bank swallows nest when we
see the sandbank. riddled with holes
like pepper box. with the nests some
times three feet In from the surface.
Birds change their nesting habits ac-
cording to their surroundings. both
natural and artificial. The black
crowned night herons Of Long Island
build their nests in trees seventy or