wager] nesting song BIRDS 22a 



physiology says it is, but let us hope that our teacher here is 

 better informed. Do not let this inquiry lead to discussion of the 

 exact composition of air below the seventh and eighth grades. It 

 is a waste of time and mentally deadening). Can you give any rea- 

 son why it is not good to breathe air that has been once breathed? 

 If one should breathe only fresh air, can you figure out how much 

 fresh air you would need every hour? (For uppergrade pupils 

 only). If your own breath should smell disagreeable what do 

 you think should be done? Why? (The social reason will be 

 more efficacious than the individual one.) 



fC). Some Follow-up Studies. 



After the approach to the subject of breathing has been made 

 in this nature-study way, and the pupils have themselves been 

 stimulated to ask questions, then is the time to assign book read- 

 ings. But this book reading should be extensive rather than m- 

 tensive. If the pupil has not been motivated by his initial study, 

 little will be gained that is enduring if he is now compelled to be 

 able to recite so much text-book matter. At the end of the study, 

 however, the essential points should be crystallized into definite 

 statements to find their way into the pupils note book on Nature 

 Study and Hygiene. 



Some studies of \'entilation may well follow the study o£ 

 breathing. 



Observations on a Pair of Nesting Son^ 

 Sparrows 



Ralph E. Wager. 



Northern Illinois State Normal School. 



One of the most important and constant agencies in keeping 

 down the hoards of insects, is the bird. This fact is slowly im- 

 pressing itself upon us. Remove the bird, and insects, even at 

 the best vexatious enough, multiply prodigeously, since one of 

 their natural enemies is removed from the struggle. 



While this relation between birds and insects has long been 

 recognized, yet the time is not past for further studies with 

 reference to it. Facts already at hand have been obtained chiefly 

 by killing large numbers of a given species and examining the 

 stomach contents in order therefrom to identify the insects it had 

 eaten. These studies have been undertaken by state and federal 

 authorities and the results set forth in bulletins published by 

 them. This method of attacking the problem is of course the only 



