Teachers' Leaflet. 455 



LESSON VIIL 



CARE OF THE YOUNG. 



Purpose. — (a) To teach how the mother cares for the young, (b) 

 How the young are fitted to help themselves, (c) The habits of the little 

 ones when following the mother. 



This is more conveniently a springtime lesson. Compare the chick 

 and duckling just out of the egg with the little robin or sparrow just 

 hatched and get the pupils to understand that the chick and duckling come 

 forth clothed warmly with down and are active on their feet, because they 

 must be ready at once to run about and follow the mother when she 

 takes them to the field or the pond for their food. Make observations 

 on the following points : How the hen protects the chicks when they are 

 resting by brooding them ; the note of warning which tells them to hide 

 because a hawk is near; her motherly cluck which calls them after her 

 through the grass; her special call when she gets a dainty bit of food for 

 some of them ; the call of the chicken as it follows its mother ; the lonesome 

 call of the chick when it has lost its mother ; the fact that the hen with 

 young chicks is very cross because she fears her little ones will be hurt ; 

 the differences between the food we give the chicks and the old hen ; also 

 the differences between the food which we give the chick and the gosling. 



• LESSON IX. 



THE LANGUAGE OF THE CHICKEN YARD. 



Purpose. — The pupil cannot begin too early to understand that the 

 notes given by birds mean something to the bird as well as to us. 



The notes of the barnyard fowls give a large range of expression 

 of the elemental emotions which the child naturally understands. It 

 would indeed be a stupid child who could not comprehend the displeasure 

 in the hiss of a goose or the happiness in the song of a hen. Of all the 

 domestic fowls the chickens have the widest range of talk. Get the chil- 

 dren to observe the following sounds, which they will readily understand : 

 First, the quiet gossip which goes on between hens when they are taking 

 their sun baths ; the song of the hen when she is happy ; her cackle of 

 triumph when she lays an tgg ; the different note from the cackle when 

 she is surprised and a little frightened ; the short note of warning given 

 by a hen or rooster when a hawk is in sight ; the way the sitting hen 

 scolds when disturbed ; the squall which indicates fright ; the long horrible 

 squawk which indicates that she is in the hand of the enemy. When a 

 hen is curious about anything she looks at it carefully and utters a little 



