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Bird - Lore 



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walks by themselves in search of winter birds and write letters or compositions 

 about what they see. Send the best one to Bird-Lore and we will publish it 

 in this department. When the birds begin to come back in the spring, the 

 calendar should already contain the names of all the winter birds that have 

 been seen and the others should be added as soon as they are reported. Let 

 it not be sufficient, however, merely to add the bird's name to the chart. 

 There is material for a drawing lesson, a geography lesson, or a composition 



on any bird that is reported. Where 

 has it been ; what has it seen ; what has 

 it been doing since it left us last fall? 

 Read 'The Yellow Warbler's Tale' from 

 the July-August, 1921, Bird-Lore, to 

 the class and then let each child write 

 a similar story for any other bird that 

 has just come back from the South. 

 When the spring migration is over, 

 do not put the bird chart away but add 

 the nesting records to it, and when the 

 birds come back in the fall keep a record 

 of their arrival and try to get the latest 

 date of departure. In other words, let 

 the bird calendar be a real calendar and 

 extend throughout the year. 



The subject of bird migration, or 

 the arrival of the birds in the spring, 

 would make a good subject for a school 

 pageant or a little play. Perhaps we 

 will devote a near number of this 

 Department to school pageants, and, 

 in preparation for it, we would be glad 

 to hear of your experiences in compos- 

 ing or directing such a school activity. 

 Perhaps you will prefer to make a 

 study of birds' nests this year. Now 

 is the time to begin making a collec- 

 tion of last years' nests while they are 

 conspicuous among the leafless branches. Refer to the November-December 

 Bird-Lore of 1920 for suggestions as to how to preserve the nests and for a 

 key with which to identify them. Perhaps some boy will bring in a stub in 

 which a Woodpecker has drilled its nesting cavity. This will be a good start- 

 ing-point for a discussion of nesting-boxes and for starting a bird-house com- 

 petition. Refer to the January-February Bird-Lore of 1920 for suggestions 

 as to how to build bird-houses and where to place them. Do not let the com- 



OLD NEST OF BALTIMORE ORIOLE 

 Now is the time to start a collection of birds' nests 



