414 Bird -Lore 



against antagonism. Pioneer bird-protective teaching was resented by certain 

 communities as insidious attempts by outsiders to interfere with personal 

 liberty. But now, in just such communities, can be found one or more leaders 

 in bird-welfare, locally and pridefully known as 'Our bird man,' or just as 

 often, 'Our bird woman. 1 Wild-life conservation interests in all large pro- 

 gressive communities has forged ahead until it is now taken for granted that 

 everyone is friendly toward wild birds; exceptions stand out and are marked 

 as cases of retarded conscience. It is common in these communities to meet 

 people with highly creditable knowledge of birds, acquired in recent years. 



The genesis of all this healthy, growing interest is found mainly in the 

 Junior Bird Clubs. Ohio conservationists owe much to the National Association 

 for making this work possible in the schools of the state, and their high appre- 

 ciation should be shown those earnest teachers who have had the vision to 

 foresee and the courage to work for a better relation between men and birds. 



REPORT OF FRANCES A. HURD, SCHOOL SECRETARY FOR 



CONNECTICUT 



The time of our Connecticut field-worker is devoted largely to the organi- 

 zation of Junior Audubon Clubs. The past year 219 were formed, with a 

 membership of 8,134. During the spring, the school secretary traveled over 

 a thousand miles in the state, giving bird-talks to several thousand children 

 who were eager to hear about the birds. She also spoke before a number of 

 audiences. An entirely new field for Audubon activity was presented in the 

 eastern part of the state, where school superintendents, teachers, and pupils 

 were found to be actively interested in bird-study. 



The principal of one of the larger schools reports taking a class out once a 

 week for an early morning bird-walk, and a number of his teachers have formed 

 Junior Audubon Clubs. In this same town the Women's Club engaged a bird- 

 man to lecture for them, and the pupils of the village and rural schools were 

 invited to hear the lecture. The children afterward wrote interesting accounts 

 of it. 



The eastern part of Connecticut is thinly settled and there are many small 

 rural schools scattered over a large area. Teachers were found here who, with 

 only a limited knowledge of birds, were arousing the interest of their pupils 

 in the subject. In a few it was pathetic to find ears deaf to the bird-music 

 of nearby woods and fields. It made one wish that every schoolroom might 

 have hanging on its walls the Audubon bird-charts which are such a delight 

 to pupils wherever they are used, and that it were also possible for every child 

 to belong to a Junior Audubon Club. 



In a kindergarten class visited at one time by the school secretary, the 

 teacher asked her to let the children tell the names of the birds as she showed 

 them the bird skins. The tiny tots had, during the year, looked at the bird- 



