CHAPTER V 

 METHODS OF BIRD STUDY AND SPECIAL PROBLEMS 



I have no doubt, therefore, that the wild pigeon is still with us, and that 

 if protected we may yet see them in something like their numbers of thirty 

 years ago. JOHN BURROUGHS, 1906 



In order to do the work outlined in the last chapter we 

 must know the birds. It is supposed that practical acquaint- 

 ance with the commoner species has been begun in the nature 

 study of the grades. The present course is planned as an " ad- 

 vanced," and, so far as school life is concerned, a final year of 

 bird study, which shall organize and complete previous knowl- 

 edge, work out more thoroughly as practical problems the 

 values and uses of different species, and help to answer the 

 question, " How may a community make the most of its bird 

 life ? " If we are to have intelligent progress, every one must 

 know these things, because the ignorance of one may vitiate 

 the best efforts of a community. 



After completing plans for individual bird-study tracts, dis- 

 cuss in the class what species merit a place in the year's 

 course. Each member may present a list including his choices, 

 and from these the official list for the year may be selected. 

 The lists should be changed somewhat from year to year, "as 

 conditions change and emphasis is shifted from one to another 

 group of problems. 



In this connection, as well as in the general problem of 

 organizing our knowledge of birds, scientific classification is 

 of great assistance. Scientific books have described for the 

 world 12,500 species of birds, and of this number 768 belong 

 to North America. This large number of species means that 



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