SOCIAL BIRD-STUDY 243 



at the same time. When one has already acquired 

 some experience and needs company, it will be quite 

 worth while to give others the benefit of the experi- 

 ence gained and try to lead them along. If one will 

 take a little pains to interest boys and go afield with 

 them, there will probably be little trouble in start- 

 ing a crop of enthusiasts, and it is surprising how fast 

 an active boy will " catch up." 



An excellent step to take, when there are a num- 

 ber of bird-lovers in a community, is to organize a 

 bird-club or start a branch of the Audubon Society. 

 The latter aims not only to protect the birds, but to 

 encourage acquaintance with them as well. What- 

 ever the organization, it had better be as informal as 

 possible, with no burdensome dues or elaborate rules. 

 It may be simply an agreement to get together now 

 and then to " compare notes." If the members take 

 notes, they will have something to compare. Dif- 

 ferent ones will have found different things of special 

 interest, outside the experience of the rest, and it 

 will be a mutual pleasure to give and receive new in- 

 formation, or to compare photographs or lantern 

 slides of bird-subjects. 



Every such group of students should select some 

 definite district of the surrounding country for in- 

 vestigation and for working up a list of its bird- 

 fauna, and this applies just as much to an 

 individual working alone as to a group. The town 

 or city can be made the district. A county list is a 

 more ambitious undertaking. To do this well, it is 



