THE OREGON NATURALIST. 



55 



structors whose duty it sliall be to go from 

 place to place, giving instructions to teachers 

 how these Museums must be formed, and in- 

 specting what has been done. The establish- 

 ment of a School Museum, is by no means an 

 expensive matter if properly carried out; it is a 

 work which may largely be done by teachers 

 and pupils, who in doing it receive the in- 

 formation they seek, and the health they need, 

 but now so often lack. 



At present the matter is left, in most cases, 

 entirely with the teacher. School authorities 

 too seldom vote money for this object, and the 

 teacher has to do it out of his or her own 

 pocket. The consequence is that little or no 

 regard is paid to what is obtained, anything is 

 accepted and put in a cupboard (if the school 

 happens to have one) in most cases without 

 any plan or system, and if the objects liave 

 their names attached, that is usually all. The 

 time is probably noL far distant when the 

 Education Department will issue instructions 

 how these School Museums should be formed, 

 but as they have not done so yet, it may he 

 useful if we give our opinion. 



In the first place the school should be pro- 

 vided with a folding-door glass-fronted spe^i- 

 men case, the lower part hiving drawers, of a 

 size proportionate to the size of the school, and 

 also a number of small boxes with glass 

 movable lids. The next important thing is to 

 have a plan to work to, and whenever anything 

 is obtained to put it in iti proper place, so that 

 the Museum shows at a glance to every scholar 

 who looks at it what the system of Nature is. 

 In addition to this, every object should have 

 attached to it, not only its name, but an ex- 

 planatory note giving its life-history in brief, 

 and its economic utility. Within easy reach of 

 most schools there is ample material in the 

 way of rocks, plants, insects, shells, etc., 

 which need only to be gathered in, and this 

 could very well be done by the class going out 

 one half-day a-week, and surely in every school 

 there is at least one teacher who could man- 

 ipulate the objects, and put them up in their 

 exhibition boxes, and it should be so arranged 

 that he could have at any rate one day a week 



for this work. Representative objects of de- 

 partments not obtainable in the district would 

 be presented by someone, or in some cases it 

 may be necessary to purchase. The Museum 

 Room should be so situated as to be accessible 

 to all the school, and to other schools under 

 the same board, and it should be open free on 

 Saturdays to anyone. — The Naturalists' 

 Journal, Huddersfield, England. 



Editor Oregon Naturalist: — In Robert W. 

 Haines,' valuable and interesting article in 

 February Oregon Naturalist, a point suggests 

 itself to me, which I think would bear investi- 

 'gation. 



In his article, he says of the Sage Grouse: 

 "They may be found in large flocks during 

 winter, and until about the first of April, when 

 they began to pair and scatter out. * * * 

 During the season of incubation the females 

 remain solitary; che males do not assist in these 

 duties, but flock together, and remain thus un- 

 til fall, when they ar*^ joined again by their 

 mates." From this it appears that the Sage 

 Grouse remains [laired only a short period in 

 early spring, or if paired, the mates remain 

 apart from each other. If this is true, it is a 

 habit worthy of notice, as nearly all birds, even 

 of the grouse family, in my experience, remain 

 mated at least through the whole nesting 

 season. 



Now the N. O. A. work for April, is on the 

 Dusky and Sooty Grouse, and in the early 

 future the Sage Grouse, will be taken up. Let 

 every person on the coast send in his notes, 

 giving especial attention to mating habits. It 

 does not seem probable that one species of 

 grouse remains paired only a short period in 

 spring, and another the whole season, but 

 possibly it is a fact. If so, we should confirm 

 it, if not, the facts should be made known. 

 The young ornithologist, need not be discour- 

 aged and think that there is no field in which 

 he may gain fame. 



Hoping that the ornithologists of the coast 

 will take an interest in this question, I am. 

 Yours in Ornithology, 



Arthur Lamson Pope. 



