Nature Study in the Library 



bird and flower guessing contests 

 Della MacGregor 



Durini^ the month of April twent^^-four pictures of common 

 birds were mounted and displayed in sets of eight j^er week in 

 the Children's Room of the vSt. Paul Public Library. 



In order that children might have an opportunity to familiarize 

 themseh^es with the correct bird-names of the specimens exhibited 

 fourteen of the best bird books were made into table reference 

 books and all children entering the contest were urged to look up 

 and A^erify their identifications in the bird-books before handing 

 in their papers. To stimulate interest in the contest the vSt. Paul 

 Humane Society ga,ve five dollars for the purchase of books to 

 be awarded as prizes. 



One hundred and thirty children entered the contest, only 

 twenty-two of whom dropped out before the contest closed. 



Only one, a girl of fourteen, identified all of the birds correcth*. 

 Five identified all but one, four all but two, thirteen all but three. 



Books were awarded to all of those who named all but two 

 correctly by the Humane Society; through the courtesy of the 

 Department of Entomolog}^ of the University of Minnesota 

 pamphlets entitled" S/ome Useful Birds to be Found in Minnesota," 

 were awarded those who identified all but three correctly. 



The children all worked hard and earnestly, some of them spend- 

 ing as much as ten or twelve hours in the identification of the 

 pictures. 



The day the prizes were awarded more than one hundred and 

 seventy children came to witness the results of the contest. 



Mr. Lange, who is one of our best atithorities on bird study 

 gave a short talk on The Calls and Homes of our Common Birds, 

 illustrating his talk with colored slides of many of the birds that 

 had appeared in the contest. 



This contest was succeeded during May by a Flower Contest. 

 When the contest closes there will have been twenty-seven pictures 

 of the common wild flowers for identification. 



In order that children living in the down town districts who 

 have little or no opportunity for gathering flowers might see the 

 flowers themselves, all children living in the suburbs have been 



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