8i6 



Rural School Leaflet 



Two young proprietors 



members of a bird club organized by Mr. Hugh Findlay of the 

 Morrisville School of Agriculture. The boys and girls are not only 



receiving the valuable training that 

 comes through natural history study, 

 but they are deepening their nature 

 sympathy and laying the foundation 

 for recreation that will become a 

 great resource in future years. Mr. 

 Findlay has the kind of enthusiasm 

 that inspires and that keeps on in- 

 spiring until definite results are 

 obtained. The children do the work. 



There are many ways of keeping up 

 the interest in bird study during the 

 winter. Have the children hang suet 

 or beef fat on the branches of the 

 trees, and scatter seeds on the ground. 

 Gradually bring the feeding stations 

 nearer to the house. The chickadees, 

 nuthatches, woodpeckers, and blue jays will visit the suet. The seeds 

 will be appreciated by the tree sparrows, juncos, fox sparrows, and quail. 

 A shelf placed outside the window has been found very useful in pro- 

 viding a feeding place for birds. It is said that winter birds frequently 

 suffer from thirst. Whenever possible, water should be placed where they 

 can reach it. 



Encourage each child to build his own bird house. Teach the impor- 

 tance of having the doorway the right size. It should be just large enough 

 to admit the bird. For the wren and the chickadee the opening should 

 be an inch auger hole, and for the others it should be about one and a half 

 inches. A perch or doorstep should be provided below each door. "It is 

 here," says Director Bailey in "The Birds and I," "that the birds often 

 stop to arrange their toilets; and when the mistress is busy with domestic 

 affairs indoors, the male bird often sits outside and entertains her with 

 the latest neighborhood gossip." 



The spring migration is always interesting. Have the children ready 

 to watch it intelligently. Tell them to listen in early spring for the 

 strange sound of "the wild geese honking from out the misty night." 

 The following list of migrating birds is taken from Chapman's " Hand- 

 book of the Birds of Eastern North America" and was compiled for use 

 in the vicinity of New York City. The latter dates in the column are 

 about what may be taken for the middle tier of counties. Encourage the 

 children to watch and report. 



