Teacher's Leaflet. 845 



were not used during the summer, and we sometimes find their nests in isolated 

 bams. The nests are shaped Hke little wall pockets made of small sticks of nearly 

 uniform size which are glued together and glued fast to the chimney side by means 

 of the saliva secreted in the mouth of the bird. After the nesting season they 

 often gather in great flocks and live together in some large chimney. Toward 

 nightfall they may be seen circling about in great numbers and dropping down 

 into the mouth of the chimney one by one as if potored into a funnel. In the 

 morning they leave it in reverse manner, each swift flying about in widening circles 

 as it leaves the chimney. The Swifts have never been seen to alight anywhere 

 except in hollow trees or chimneys or similar places. Their tiny feet have sharp 

 claws that cling to the slightest roughness of the upright wall; the tail acts as a 

 prop, each tail feather ends in a spine and is pressed against the chimney side and 

 the bird is thus enabled to cling, and in this fashion it roosts, practically hung up 

 against the chimney wall. The swift has a short beak and wide mouth which it 

 opens broadly to snatch insects as it darts through the air. Chimney Swifts have 

 been known to travel at the rate of no miles in an hour. The Swift is a smaller 

 bird than the swallow and when flying its tail seems simply a sharp point, making 

 the whole body seem cigar-shaped. This character alone distinguishes it from 

 the swallows when flying. In color it is sooty-brown with gray throat and breast. 

 The wings are long, narrow and apparently curved. 



THE SKUNK. 



Although we know this animal too well in one particular, it is safe to 

 say that we know less of its habits than of almost any of our other wild 

 animals ; nor is its economic value appreciated among people at large aside 

 from a knowledge of the price of its pelt. But one of the first steps in 

 advanced farming is to discover what each little animal or bird frequent- 

 ing the place does to help or hinder in developing the farm to its highest 

 efficiency, and from the farmer's point of view the skunk should be 

 studied, for it has been proven by scientists to be one of the most bene- 

 ficial of our wild mammals because its food consists to such a large extent 

 of injurious insects, like grasshoppers; and of injurious rodents, like rats 

 and mice, especially field mice and moles. It is also safe to say that if the 

 farmer houses his poultry properly there is no danger of the skunk doing 

 him any harm whatever. For these reasons the teacher in giving this 

 lesson should try to give the pupils a new standpoint for judging this 

 interesting as well as odoriferous little creature. 



Lesson LIII. 



how the skunk looks. 



Purpose. — To make the children as observant of the appearance of this 

 common and economically important animal as they are of its odor. 



