Rural School Leaflet 



815 



BIRD STUDY 

 The Editor 



" A thousand voices whisper it is spring; 



Shy flowers start up to greet me on the way, 

 And homing birds preen their swift wings and sing 

 The praises of the friendly, lengthening day. 



"Let me rejoice, now skies are blue and bright, 



And the round world pays tribute to the spring; 

 The birds and I will carol our delight, 



And every breeze Love's messages shall bring." 



LOUISE CHANDLER MOULTON 



The most important factor in bird study is that the teacher should be 

 interested. It then takes but Httle effort on his part to start the children 

 on a quest for bird knowledge that will be full of joy and growth as long 

 as they live. The subject is one well suited to real live study. The 

 result of spirited work will mean compensation in many ways. 



It will not m.atter whether 

 the quest is started in con- 

 nection with regular school 

 work or by means of a bird 

 club. In many rural districts 

 the children make their obser- 

 vations of birds on the way to 

 school and report on these 

 observations as a part of the 

 morning exercises. A good 

 reference book is valuable for 

 such an exercise. Chapman's 

 "Bird Life" and Neltje 

 Blanchan's " Bird Neighbors " 

 are used a great deal by 

 teachers in the State. Interest 

 is increased by keeping a bird 

 calendar; by watching the 

 spring migration and reporting 

 on it; by learning pieces of 

 literature relating to birds; by 

 feeding the birds in winter ; by 

 building bird houses. 



It will be well for teachers 

 to notice the illustrations on pages 22-25. Spirit is manifested in each 

 one and each tells the story of wise instruction. The children are 



Jim Crow 



