318 ELEMENTARY ZOOLOGY. 



(Fig. 133) were very much more like reptiles than those 

 of the present day. The conclusion which zoologists 

 draw from these facts is that the birds and the reptiles 

 are from a common stock and are related. 



325. Practical Exercises for the Field and Laboratory. 



The time that can be given to the study of birds in an 

 elementary course should be given wholly to the study of 

 the habits and relations and activities, and of such broad 

 adaptations of the bodies as will help to explain these. 

 In these studies of the life relations of birds the student 

 should not neglect to study their relation to human life 

 and welfare. The excursion, the camera, and the field- 

 glass are the means which should be used. A few mounted 

 specimens, a captive bird, and a mounted skeleton will 

 be of much help. Each student, or a group of stu- 

 dents, should be encouraged to select one or more species 

 of birds, and be asked to study their habits and general 

 form in the light of some such outline as the following : 



I. Habits and Activities. Haunts and feeding habits. 

 How widely does it wander from the region where it most 

 likes to be? What kinds of food does it prefer? At 

 what time of day is it most active? In what way does it 

 get its food? How take its water? Why the difference? 

 What organs does it use in getting food? In what ways 

 are these organs well suited to their work? 



Social habits: are they solitary or gregarious? Do 

 they differ at different seasons in this respect? Why? 



Mating habits : monogamous or polygamous? Degree 

 of difference between the sexes? Time of mating. 



Nesting habits: number of eggs, their size and other 

 characteristics. Character, structure, and position of 

 the nests. Watch carefully the building. Is the color 



