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A Variety of Interesting Studies. 

 REPORT OB CH \ri'KU 1017, Y. \i. C. A. 



TRAINING SCHOOL, SPRINGFIELD, MASS. 

 BY HERM. G. IIAKSE, SECRETARY CH M'l'KU 



10l~ A. \. 



Chapter 1017 of the A.\ has this year 

 an enrollment of twenty-one enthu- 

 siastic nature students. The officers 

 are: president and treasurer, Arthur 

 Lockley; secretary, H. G. Haese. 



The Chapter during the year has 

 been privileged to have as a member 

 Prof. G. B. Affleck who gave much 

 time and thought for the benefit of the 

 rest. 



Early last spring each member se- 

 cured a cocoon of the Cecropia moth 

 and at each succeeding meeting re- 

 ported the result of their observations, 

 thus becoming familiar with the 

 various stages of the development of 

 the beautiful creature. Later in the 

 season, interesting studies were made 

 of the blossoms of various trees and 

 shrubs with the aid of a microscope. 

 An aquarium was secured and in it 

 were placed specimens of brook life. 

 The lives of the tenants have been of 

 interest to all. 



Since the reopening of school in the 

 fall, the members have made a special 

 study of oak trees and acorns. The 

 alternate meetings of the chapter were 

 held in the depths of the woods. On 

 these excursions all departments of 

 nature were studied and discussed. 

 One trip was made to the camping site 

 of an ancient local tribe of Indians. 

 Most of the trampers secured specimens 

 of stone chippings. 



In February, Dr. Bigelow paid us a 

 visit, first addressing the Chapter, and 

 later, showing a magnificent set of 

 slides, on the beauties of nature, to 

 the whole student body. This was 

 much enjoyed by all. 



Now that spring is coming on once 

 more, the members are looking for- 

 ward to some enjoyable field days. 



The year's at the spring, 



And day's at the morn; 



Morning's at seven; 



The hill-side's dew-pearled; 



The lark's on the wing; 



The snail's on the thorn; 



God's in His heaven — 



All's right with the world. (R. B.) 



Annual Report of the Mount Bluff 

 Chapter. 



Alnum Bluff Chapter held regular 

 monthly meetings from March to Sep- 

 tember inclusive. The order of busi- 

 ness in the AA handbook was followed, 

 each member giving a report of obser- 

 vation or of work. Last year we did 

 not add any literary part to our pro- 

 grams, which we feel was a mistake. 

 This year we plan to have one number 

 on each program to present the ex- 

 periences of writers and biographical 

 sketches of leading naturalists. The 

 remainder of each program is to be 

 filled with questions and with discus- 

 sions of our own work. 



On August fourth our Chapter had 

 its annual field-day, driving about ten 

 miles to Seymour Lake wdiere one of 

 our members w r as spending her vaca- 

 tion in a lakeside cottage. The day, in 

 spite of several heavy thunder-showers, 

 was pleasantly and profitably spent, 

 although in the afternoon the woods 

 were too wet for extensive exploration. 

 A list of wild flowers seen during the 

 day was made, thirty-six varieties be- 

 ing identified and several "strangers" 

 observed. The flower list included : 

 Queen of the meadow, meadow rue, 

 hop clover, black-eyed Susan, white 

 daisy, clover-red, white and alsike, but- 

 tercups, spreading dogbane, turtlehead, 

 blue vetch self heal, yarrow, white 

 aster, purple aster, fireweed, paint 

 brush, St. John's wort, iron weed, 

 lobelia, ladies' tresses, purple-flowered 

 orchid, Indian pipe, wild clematis, 

 Canada thistle, bedstraw, Joe Pye 

 w r eed, tiger lily, (evidently escaped 

 from some garden, but growing by the 

 roadside), chicory, pink burweed, 

 jewelweed, goldenrod, wild mustard, 

 sweet everlasting, primrose, Philadel- 

 phia fleabane, alternate-leaved dog- 

 wood. 



Sixteen species of birds were ob- 

 served during the day, most of them 

 in the trees near the cottage, which 

 stands in a large grove of mixed tim- 

 ber and affords an ideal spot for bird 

 study. This list included, black and 

 white creeping warbler, black burnian 

 warbler, great-crested flycatcher, chip- 

 py, cedar waxwing, junco, chicadee. yel- 



