284 



Bird - Lore 



the last two years. Three companies 

 merely answer that they are no longer 

 insuring feathers. In 191 1, the fine plu- 

 mage destroyed in one New York feather 

 fire was worth $65,000 (in insurance); 

 in another, more than $100,000. And a 

 191 2 feather fire, by spreading, caused a 

 total loss of about $660,000. In none of 

 these fires, and in none of those to be 

 mentioned specifically below, was there 

 any evidence whatever of incendiarism. 

 As far as the writer knows, all were per- 

 fectly honest. And we make no insinua- 

 tion that they were otherwise.' " 



It is with very great sorrow we have to 

 announce the death, on June 19th, 1913, at 

 her residence, 341 South i8th Street, 

 Philadelphia, of Miss Lucy Hunter 

 Baird, daughter of the late Professor. 

 Spencer F. Baird, Secretary of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, and one of the early sup- 

 porters of the .A.udubon movement. Miss 

 Baird was buried alongside of her father 

 and mother in the family vault at Oak 

 Hill Cemetery, Washington, D. C, on 

 June 23, 1913. 



For many years Miss Baird has been a 

 member of the National Association, and 

 has annually made a contribution to its 

 support in memory of her father. 



What can be accomplished by an earn- 

 est and enthusiastic teacher under the 

 stimulus that is so well furnished by the 

 plan of Junior Audubon classes is admira- 

 bly illustrated by the case of Miss M. J. 

 May, of Elizabeth, N. J. She writes, in 

 part, as follows: 



"Both boys and girls have been very 

 much interested in the work of the Society. 

 They have looked forward eagerly to the 

 receipt of the next paper, and have been 

 anxious to relate their various outside 

 observations, and have brought in a num- 

 ber of newspaper clippings for the scrap- 

 book. Hardly any of the recent legisla- 

 tion accounts have escaped them. 



"As most of the class joined the -Audu- 

 bon Society, I received permission from 

 Mr. Richards, the principal of the school, 

 to use one reading period a month of 



forty minutes in length, in which to read 

 and discuss the leaflets furnished the 

 Society. Later, we used two a month, as 

 we had not devoted any time to this pur- 

 pose during the fall and winter. 



"One of the boys picked up a young 

 Starling in the yard, and brought it in. 

 I took this opportunity to compare it 

 with the Crackle, having a life-sized pic- 

 ture of the same. We noted the points of 

 difi'erence, such as shape, color, beak, tail, 

 and eyes. As both the Starling and Crackle 

 congregate together here, in the fall, I 

 thought it best to impress the difference 

 between the native birds and the foreign. 



"The Woodpeckers, both the Downy 

 and Hairy, together with the Blue Jay, 

 formed the topic of our bird talks during 

 the winter months. In March, we took 

 up the Robin, Bluebird and Song Sparrow. 

 In April, we noted the Meadowlark, 

 Grackle and Red-winged Blackbird. In 

 May, the Oriole, Bobolink, and Barn 

 Swallow were considered. In June, the 

 Goldfinch and Kingfisher were taken up 

 by the class. 



"I mention the above work in connec- 

 tion with the shore-birds, as it awakened 

 a very keen interest in the children, from 

 both a biological and geographical stand- 

 point. In fact, I find that the best work 

 done in geography is done in connection 

 with the living world. I know the children 

 have had awakened in them an interest 

 in the outside world which they will carry 

 throughout life. 



"During the winter, several Woodpeck- 

 ers were noted by the children, and during 

 the spring migration, among the fruit 

 trees in the surrounding yard, an Oriole, 

 Catbird, Thrush and Flicker were noted 

 and identified." 



Miss May has also sent in some very 

 charming and attractive booklets pre- 

 pared by members of her class, the text, 

 written in composition form, comprising 

 what they had learned from the Educa- 

 tional Leaflets and other sources. The 

 booklets were illustrated by the colored 

 plates from the leaflets, and pictures 

 clipped from newspapers and magazines, 

 and were bound in artistic paper covers. 



