14 Arbor and Bird Day Bulletin 



BIRD DAY IN THE SEATTLE SCHOOLS 

 (By Robert C. Wright) 



Bird houses appeared hung from the poles along Second Avenue, 

 and the business man at his desk was startled with the chirping of 

 wild birds of all kinds Saturday, March 31. 



That day was Bird Day in Seattle. It was made so by the pupils in 

 the public schools, who have made the feathered citizens subject of 

 special study this year, and who have made elaborate plans for bet- 

 tering their condition. 



An exhibit of approximately 2,000 bird houses, made by the manual 

 training department of the schools was held in the Press Club Theatre 

 from 2 until 9 o'clock, March 31, and the bird houses along Second 

 Avenue were hung to call the attention of the passerby to the ex- 

 hibition. The bird calls which were heard through the business sec- 

 tion of the city were not voiced by thrushes and robins themselves, 

 but by schoolboys, who toured the downtown streets in trucks loaned 

 for the purpose by automobile companies, and who imitated their 

 friends, the birds. 



The special study of the birds was begun early this year under 

 the direction of a committee appointed by Superintendent Frank B. 

 Cooper, and chairman of which is Miss Adelaide Pollock, principal of 

 the Queen Anne elementary school and one of the foremost authorities 

 on bird life in Seattle. The calls of the birds were studied in con- 

 nection with the study of music, drawings of the bir.ds and their 

 homes were made in the art classes, special trips were made by the 

 pupils to the University of Washington museum, where specimens 

 of bird life are mounted in their natural surroundings, and the study 

 was correlated with language study in compositions about the birds 

 and their life. 



The building of bird houses has been under the direction of Ben 

 Johnson, director of manual training, who is chairman of the com- 

 mittee in charge of the exhibit at the Press Club. Drinking fountains 

 for the birds, and receptacles for food have been made by the pupils in 

 addition to bird houses. 



The interest in the work is shown by the enthusiasm with which 

 public institutions of all kinds are co-operating in the staging of the 

 exhibit. The park board furnished foliage and ferns, so that the 

 bird houses were shown in their proper setting, and those who pur- 

 chased the bird homes from the pupils were shown how to place them 

 to attract the wild tenants. The public library also had a booth, in 

 which were books relating to bird life, and the municipal lighting 

 department assisted in hanging the bird houses along Second Avenue 

 to attract attention to the display. 



As the department has made a strict rule against hanging any- 

 thing from the light poles, the Puget Sound Traction, Light & Power 

 Company came to the rescue with authorization to hang the bird 

 houses from the power poles. 



