784 Rural School Leaflkt 



were the voice of God. In fact, he expects that every hour out of the 

 twenty-four is a step forward in his educative process, and that the task 

 of educating him is more than a school affair. 



There is yet more. Beyond my expectations or his expectations there 

 are our expectations. You and I — everybody. He is our boy. He is 

 to be our Michelangelo, our Thomas Edison, our Abraham Lincoln, our 

 First Citizen, our Great Good Man. It is for us to give him his chance 

 to be great, good, and godlike. It is for us to give him a parentage 

 untainted by disease — social, civic, or industrial. It is for us to give 

 him his rightful heritage of playgrounds, of good schools, of clean cities. 

 It is for us to close the door of the corner saloon, the dive, the vulgar 

 show. It is for us to prevent his exploitation in sweatshop, factory, or 

 store. 



Our boy cannot run the race with his feet tied. He cannot do it all. 

 He will do his share. We must do ours. Now let's all push and pull 

 together, then we shall find that our boy meets my expectations, his expec- 

 tations, our expectations. 



BIRD STUDY 



Boys and girls throughout New York State are now interested in birds. 

 There is not the careless hunting that used to drive away the little singers 

 long ago. Birds are needed because they are useful and because they give 

 us joy. Let us see each year how much we can learn about them and how 

 well we can protect them from their enemies. 



If I were to go into your schoolroom and ask you to name all the birds 

 you know, I am sure you would name the blackbird, the crow, the robin, 

 the owl, and a number of the larger birds. There are very few boys and 

 girls, however, who could tell me anything about the group of small birds 

 called warblers. I should like you to try to see some of them during the 

 summer. They are very interesting. 



Keep your eyes open, then, for all small birds and have particularly 

 in mind the little redstart, since it is one of the fly-catching warblers that 

 we have for study this year. Remember it is smaller than a sparrow 

 and you will have to look carefully to find it. You may see a bird smaller 

 than a sparrow that does not answer to the description of the redstart 

 on page 237 ; if so, describe it and we may be able to name it for you. 



Before summer comes, try to learn from the description on the next 

 page the colors of the redstart. Read what Thoreau, the great naturalist, 

 says of the little bird. Listen for every delicate bird note all summer and 

 try to find the bird that makes it. If you do not find the redstart you 

 will probably see one of the other warblers. 



