EDUCATING THE GROWING GENERATION 97 



work. Let teachers and schools do all they can to 

 spread good bird literature and to fight such tradi- 

 tional ignorance that does, for instance, still prevail 

 against hawks and owls. This work must, however, 

 also receive due attention in high schools and in 

 normal schools from which our teachers go out. In 

 these schools, as well as in common schools, bird study 

 clubs can do much good, if they strictly refrain from 

 collecting birds and eggs and if the teachers see to it 

 that nests are not too frequently visited. Every bird 

 actually placed in a collection by schoolboys probably 

 means the wounding or killing of half a dozen. You 

 may be sure that, if you start schoolboys collecting 

 eggs and birds, you will soon have studied the birds 

 out of the country. Every teacher that augments 

 the egg and bird collecting mania helps to decrease our 

 birds. * Use good charts and colored pictures, observe 

 the birds outdoors, and let alone those that you can- 

 not reach by these means. Moreover, in many states, 

 schoolboy collectors would violate the law. This 

 collecting must be done only by competent licensed 

 collectors. Most private collections serve only the 

 whim of the collector. With proper directions chil- 

 dren may profitably collect insects, plants, and minerals, 

 but they may learn much and not make any collections. 

 There is certainly knowledge that would be too dearly 



1 Teachers and others who are interested in natural sciences but 

 do not have access to many books, to libraries, and museums, can get 

 much help and inspiration from the Agassiz Association. For detailed 

 information, write to Mr. H. H. Ballard, Pittsfield, Mass. 



