224 



Bird- Lore 



The boys proved to be tremendously engrossed with their work, and made 

 their houses eagerly, and sometimes over more than once, in order to get a 

 result that satisfied them. They sought, and secured with reasonable success, 

 the rustic appearance, and they wrought out of unpromising material, such as 

 old soap-boxes, miles too large, neat and satisfying effects. 



Thev kept in mind that a good bird-house does not necessarily look like 

 a house for human habitation, and that sometimes the less Hke a real "house" 

 the bird-house looks, the better bird-house it may be. They inclined the roof 

 to keep the rain from soaking through, they studied the location of the perch, 

 and they considered the jjroblem of the pestiferous cat and the P>nglish Spar- 

 row. They pored over the problem of the size of the hole for an entrance, 

 and thev devised clever doors for the cleaning of the house, after the tenants 

 had left it. 



Public School 5 is a small school, as schools go in the great city of New York, 

 so that not more than five classes of about fort}- each were involved in the making 

 of the posters and houses. The work was wholly voluntary, and was done mainly 

 after school and at home. It served to arouse an interest in the conservation of 

 our native birds, and to lead in some small way, at least, to the observation of 

 bird wavs and the function of the bird in the life of the community. 



HI kh-HOUSES .\.\1) I'OSIKRS lOR .MDL'IIO.X D\\ i:.\ 11 1 li 1 1 I ' > \ 

 URO.N.X, NEW YORK CITY 

 PholDnraphiMl l>y (icorRC Gadc 



