strong] teach J XG a BIRD COURSE 19.) 



Stagnant water can easily be kept in aquaria which contain water 

 plants. Here again the out door cage can be used to good ad- 

 vantage. 



The Blood Worm [Chironomous Larva (Fig. 26.)]. 



In dip-net sweepings of the bottom of weedy ponds or other 

 bodies of quiet water some blood red, worm-like creatures will 

 often be found wriggling in the slime and among the decaying 

 leaves in the bottom of the net. Each has a long slender jointed 

 body with a pair of legs on the first joint and a pair on the last 

 joint. The second from the last joint usually bears two pairs of 

 breathing organs on the lower side. These larvae move about by 

 an irregular looping of the body from one side to the other. They 

 live in a sort of tube made of rubbish. They can easily be reared 

 by placing them in a small glass jar which contains some dead 

 leaves and rubbish on which they feed. They will rebuild their 

 tubes and after a time change into the pupa stage which is very 

 much like the pupa stage of the mosquito except that it has branch- 

 ing gills on the top of the thorax. The pupa finally becomes the 

 adult which is called the Midge and which is very much like a 

 mosquito in appearance. 



[to be concluded.] 



Some Ideas on Teaching a Bird Course 



R. M. Strong. 



Courses in bird study are given now in a large number of 

 schools, colleges, and universities ; but, so far as the writer knows, 

 little or nothing has been done in the way of assembling the ideas 

 of various teachers as to how a bird course should be conducted. 

 As the writer is much interested in the methods which are em- 

 ployed by others in bird study, he has assumed that an account of 

 the course which he gives at the University of Chicago may be of 

 interest. 



Any course of study may be interesting or dull, intellectually 

 profitable or the contrary according to the ability of the instruct- 

 or as a teacher; but it is probably agreed that different subjects 

 vary in their inherent attractiveness and educational value. This 

 variation may exist independently of the interest, age, or condition 

 in life of the student. It is the writer's opinion that a bird course 

 may be one of the strongest courses both in discipline and in ths 

 usefulness of the information obtained which may be offered by 

 school, college, or university. 



