The Audubon Societies 



267 



have noticed. The most important thinj;, 

 I think, is that a few more children have 

 a keen interest in, and a true love for, 

 their little brothers of the air. 



"Last year, a favorite pastime of a 

 neighbor was shooting birds for his cat, 

 and I think he was no more particular 

 than the cat as to the kind of bird. His 

 little daughter was a member of the Audu- 

 bon class, and this spring I noticed that 

 our neighbor's cat has to catch its own 

 birds. Perhaps, if the little girl can be 

 an Audubon member another year, there 

 will be no more cat. 



"A mother of another little member of 

 the class used to delight in birds' plumes, 

 breasts or feathers of some kind on her 

 hat. Her spring hat this year was trimmed 

 with ribbon. 



"I have heard several bird-lovers say 

 that they have noticed more of our common 

 wild birds about this place than there 

 were last year, and they believe the 

 Junior Audubon Societies in the schools 

 have been the cause. 



"When school closed, many of the 

 mothers came to me and said that they 

 wished to thank me for what I had done 

 for their children along the line of nature 

 study, especially of birds. They said that 

 they thought the Junior Audubon Class 

 was a splendid thing for their children. 

 I pass the thanks on to you, where it 

 rightfully belongs. — Beth Merritt, Sun- 

 shine, Tenn." 



"The Junior Audubon Society of the 

 Tenafly, N. J., Public School has a mem- 

 bership of two hundred and seventy-nine. 



"Every month, a half-hour's nature talk 

 is given by me in each grade. Although 

 we study insects, trees and flowers, we 

 devote a part of each lesson to the study 

 of birds. I find this the most pleasing 

 topic to them. The pupils are now 

 familiar with our most common birds. 



"The boj's and girls showed great 

 interest, last winter, by putting out food 

 for the birds during the severe weather. 



"This spring, bird-houses were made 

 in the manual training department by 

 the pupils of the fifth and seventh grades. 



"I think the outlook is bright for the 

 l)rotection of our feathered friends in 

 this vicinity. — Ina C. DeWitt, Super- 

 visor of Nature Study, Tenafly, New 

 Jersey." 



"It gives me pleasure to say that, 

 although we were late in the school term 

 in beginning these classes, yet I think we 

 accomplished some good for the birds. 

 We succeeded in interesting many more 

 children than the 51 I reported as mem- 

 bers, and many of these have been feeding 

 and watching the birds about their homes, 

 and have put up bird-boxes, which were 

 promptly occupied, to the great delight 

 of the owners. One boy who had been 

 notably cruel to the birds has become a 

 most interested member, and a lady of 

 the town tells me that this one 'convert' 

 was worth all the efforts of the class, even 

 if nothing else has been done. 



"Our bird day, to which we invited the 

 public, was a great success, and was 

 repeated at the request of the superin- 

 tendent of the school. I would suggest 

 to teachers of Junior Audubon classes 

 that they having a similar day — giving 

 a bird program, showing the value of the 

 birds to the farmers, etc. I think the 

 plan of having these Junior Classes is a 

 most excellent and practical one, and can 

 be used in any kind of a school with the 

 most gratifying results. 



Bird Lore is read with interest by our 

 pupils, and I have encouraged them to 

 take it home, so that their parents may 

 become interested. — Laura L. Faucette, 

 Lenoir, N. C. 



"I believe I was quite successful with 

 my Junior Audubon class, for the chil- 

 dren seem to take an interest in observing 

 the birds, and in telling me all they could 

 about them. They had some very inter- 

 esting things to tell sometimes. 



"Ever}' Thursday morning we would 

 have a program arranged for which we 

 allowed twenty minutes of our first period. 

 It consisted of a short composition on 

 the bird we had selected to study that 

 week, a poem on birds, which was recited 



