1908] Nature Study. 153 



the president and the secretary of which, we are proud to number 

 among our fellow teachers. Take advantage of these facilities 

 and I am sure you will soon become more interested in a subject 

 which, for pupils in our day, had no existence. 



In conclusion, I have tried to present this subject to you 

 not from the standpoint of the faddist, but from the standpoint 

 of one who believes that our primary schools, dealing as thev do 

 with the masses, mtist continue to fit our people for the affairs 

 of every day life. At the same time I am convinced we can do 

 much to train the future men and women of this province, that 

 there is lying everywhere around them a means of creating a 

 disposition to appreciate the sentiments of the poet who said: 



"Nature never did betray 

 The heart that loved her; 'tis her privilege, 

 Through all the years of this, our life, to leap 

 From jpy to joy ; for she can so inform 

 The mind that is within us, so impress 

 With greatness and beauty, and so feed 

 With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues, 

 Rash judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men, 

 Nor greetings where no kindness is, nor all 

 The dreary intercourse of daily life. 

 Shall e'er prevail against us, or disturb 

 Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold 

 Is full of blessings." 



SOME BIRD HABITS. 



By Norman Criddle, Treesbank, Manitoba, 



Several years ago my brother Stuart drew my attention to 

 some remarkable habits practised by the Killdeer Plover while 

 endeavoring to preserve its eggs from enemies. He had observed 

 that this bird, while sitting upon its eggs, when disturbed by a 

 dog, would leave the nest and flutter along the ground as if 

 badly injured, as many other birds are known to do, and so 

 entice the dog away. But, if the danger came from a cow, or 

 horse, the tactics were changed and the bird, with wings and 

 feathers spread out, would run into the animal's face and so by 

 startling it drive the intruder aside. In the former instance the 



