454 Home Nature- Study Course. 



LESSON VI. 



THE WAY BIRDS HEAR AND SEE. 



Purpose. — To enable the pupil to understand the presence and value 

 to the birds of these special senses. 



The ears of fowls are very well developed although hidden beneath 

 the feathers ; in some breeds the ear-lobes are noticeable. The pupils 

 should observe their presence and also the fact that the fowls are sensi- 

 tive to noises. 



The eyes of the chicken are at the side of the head and it may see 

 what is happening in the rear as well as in front. The pupils should 

 notice that when she wishes to observe a thing closely, the hen looks at it 

 first with one eye, then turning her head looks at it again with other. 

 They should see that the bird's eye has no eyelids like our own, but has 

 the " film lid," which passes over the eye when the bird sleeps or winks 

 (" Bird Book," Eckstorm, pp. 108-114). 



There should follow a lesson on how the different domestic fowls 

 sleep. They have one habit in common : they all place the head beneath 

 the wing ; beyond this their habits vary. Chickens and turkeys sleep on 

 roosts with their legs doubled, so that the feathers on the under side 

 of the body cover the feet ; geese and ducks sleep on the ground, although, 

 if the editor's memory is not at fault, they take daytime naps standing 

 on one foot with the head- beneath the wing. The placing the head 

 beneath the wing and covering the feet with the feathers may have arisen 

 from the necessity of saving the eyes and feet from freezing (" The 

 Story of the Birds," Baskett, " How a Bird Goes to Bed," pp. 154-160). 



LESSON VH. 



NEST BUILDING AND EGGS. 



Purpose.— To teach the differences in the shape and size and coloring 

 of the eggs of the barnyard fowls and places where these eggs are laid. 



This must be a lesson of actual observation either at home or at 

 school. Note should be made on the differences of shape, color and size 

 of the eggs of hens, turkeys, ducks and geese, and a discussion should 

 follow of how many eggs each lays in a clutch, how long it takes to lay 

 the clutch and how long each must sit on the eggs before they hatch. 



Incidentally there may be a discussion as to how many eggs a hen 

 would be expected to lay during the year, and how much they would 

 be worth in the market ("Bird Life," Chapman, pp. 65-70; "Story of 

 the Birds," pp. 101-115 and 179-180; "Bird Book," Eckstorm, pp. 

 201-218). 



