CoPELAND — On An Exercise in Bird Study. 41 



given, all we can say is that the parent hirds fed their young a 

 certain number of times, but it can reasonably be assumed that, 

 had the observer been absent, the number of visits to the nest 

 would not have been diminished, but more likely been in- 

 creased. 



These observations were carefully made and care taken to 

 make the records exact. By way of commendation, it is safe 

 to say that a day's work of this sort has nuich value, even 

 though much has to be eliminated on account of error. A stu- 

 dent cannot avoid the fact that birds are actually doing work, 

 and by knowing the amount that one pair is doing every day, 

 he has an index that will tell him approximately what that par- 

 ticular species is doing for his community. 



I see no impossible reason why such an exercise might not 

 be used with interest and profit in our public schools and more 

 especially in rural districts. Of course w^e are to insist upon 

 exact observations and records, but I do not think that we are 

 to be more interested in records than we are concerning the in- 

 fluence of such studies upon the life of the pupil. And so I 

 wish to repeat that I think there is enough of real value in this 

 exercise, after all errors are omitted, to make it well worth 

 recommending to every bird student and teacher. 



Below are given brief extracts from reports made before the 

 class: 



vi<:llow-breasted chat. 

 By Ernestine Cooley. 



'i'he nest was found June 20, '08, in a clump of bushes and 

 briers. It was loosely put together, being made of leaves and 

 bark from the grape vines. Four little birds, probably four 

 days old, were in the nest. On Saturday, July 4, the entire 

 day was spent near the nest, the observations beginning at 4 

 a. m. and ending at 6 :45 p. m. The parent birds being so 

 nearly alike it was not always possible to distinguish between 

 them, but occasionally both visited the nest at the same time, 

 proving beyond a doubt that both brought food to the young. 



During the morning the birds seemed annoyed by my pres- 

 ence and would often make considerable fuss before coming to 

 the nest, but in the afternoon they would slip in quietly, and 



