Teachers' Leaflet. 451 



the child to understand this. It is difficult for children to conceive that 

 the air is really anything because they cannot see it, so the first experi- 

 ment should be to show that the air is something we can push against or 

 that pushes against us. Strike the air with a fan and we feel there is 

 something which the fan pushes ; we feel the wind when it is blowing 

 and it is very difficult for us to walk against a hard wind. If we hold 

 an open umbrella in the hand while we jump from a step we feel buoyed 

 up because the umbrella presses down upon the air. The bird presses 

 down upon the air with the wings, just as the open umbrella does. The 

 bird flies by pressing down upon the air with its wings just as a boy 

 jumps high by pressing down with his hands on his vaulting pole (" The 

 Bird Book," Eckstorm, pp. 75-92 ; " Story of the Birds," Baskett, pp. 

 171-176; " Bird Life," Chapman, pp. 18-19 Cornell Nature-Study Leaflet, 

 April-May, 1905). 



This should be followed by a lesson on the bird's wing, and the 

 outspread wing of a fowl is perhaps the best material for this lesson. 

 It should be shown: (a) That the wings open and close at the will of 

 the bird, (b) That the feathers open and shut on each other like a fan. 

 (c) When the wing is open the wing quills overlap, so that the air cannot 

 pass through them, (d) When the wing is open it is curved so that 

 it i.^ more efiicient ; for the same reason that an umbrella presses harder 

 against the atmosphere when it is open than when it is broken by the 

 wind and turned wrong side out. 



Observations should be made on the use of the tail in flight. The 

 hen spreads her tail like a fan when she flies to the top of the fence. 

 The robin spreads its tail also like a fan. The fact that the tail is used 

 as a rudder to guide the bird in flight as well as to give more surface 

 for pressing down upon the air is hard for the younger pupils to under- 

 stand, and perhaps can be best taught by watching the erratic unbalanced 

 flight of young birds whose tail-feathers are not yet grown. 



A discussion should follow as to why a hen cannot fly as far or as 

 rapidly as a robin. Attention should be called to the size of the wings 

 of the two birds as compared with the size of the body. Also the fact 

 should be remembered that the hen does not need to fly like a robin, as 

 the hen gets her food on the ground, and she needs only now and then 

 to fly over the fence to get into the garden, or to escape when the dog 

 chases her, or to fly up to her perch. 



LESSON m. 



FE.VTHERS IN RELATION TO ORNAMENT 



Purpose. — To cause the pupils to notice that the color of feathers and 

 often their shapes contribute to make the bird more beautiful. 



