io6 Bird - Lore 



in some simple, practical, beautiful fashion. Much has been written of interest 

 and worth concerning Nature. It is all good material, but don't overlook the 

 value of the work of your own school- room, in order to recite and rehearse 

 what has elsewhere been said and done. 



5. Lastly, relate Bird and Arbor Day to the Homes and the Public in your 

 immediate neighborhood. 



A few special hints are offered, with the hope that teachers may not only find 

 them helpful but that they may also excite sufficient interest to bring to this 

 department criticisms, suggestions and personal experiences from those who 

 observe Bird and Arbor Day in our schools. 



I. RURAL SCHOOLS 



According to locality and climatic conditions, lay out, prepare, sow or 

 cultivate the school-garden. If possible, plant a tree and some shrubs, paying 

 especial attention to beautifying the grounds and attracting birds. Invite 

 parents and friends to spend an hour or so working with you. Let each pupil 

 plant at least one seed or help set out one shrub. Where there is room, give 

 each pupil a small plot to cultivate and raise a crop on. Have a row of sunflow- 

 ers somewhere, and a flower-bed of hardy, late-blooming species which may 

 contribute to the decoration of the school-room in the fall. A few early blos- 

 soms may be possible in mild climates; midsummer flowers are less practicable. 



Select a site for a birds' drinking-fountain, and assign the work of getting 

 material and setting it in place to those pupils best fitted to do it. If no money 

 is available for such a purpose, make a simple trough, or round receptacle, 

 detailing different pupils to fill and keep it clean week by week, including the 

 vacation-time. Ask farmers to let the school have some of the extra seedlings 

 when they "thin out" vegetable beds, and try setting these out in competi- 

 tion with the same plants grown from the seed in the school-garden. Dates of 

 all planting, transplanting and harvesting should be kept. 



If the day is fair and sufficiently mild, have the so-called "exercises" 

 outdoors, making the marching and massing of the pupils to and from and about 

 the school-grounds as attractive as possible. Indoors, arrange an exhibit which 

 shall show what the pupils have done in nature-study through the year; hang 

 up pictures; make blackboard sketches or diagrams, and give lists of birds, 

 flowers, trees, rocks, insects, animals and soils which have been identified, 

 stating dates and localities; have window-boxes with something growing (for 

 example, the common grasses of agriculture) with one or more of their 

 enemies, in the form of weeds. Let the pupils do as much of this work 

 as possible. When desirable, assemble the schools of a town in some hall or 

 outdoor park where the public may join in more formal exercises, inviting as 

 guests the Board of Education or School Committee, Fish and Game Commis- 

 sioners, State Forester, State Geologist and similar officials. The State Boards 



