216 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [14:5— May, 1918 



of stitching and binding grow out of the needs for the bird book. 

 Sometimes the nature-study department furnishes the paper, 

 sometimes the students are thrown on their own resources. This 

 year we are giving out "mist gray" paper for mounting and "steel 

 gray" heavier material for the covers. 



The loose Comstock plates are colored and mounted by any one 

 of several methods. Both crayons and water-colors are used, 

 although the general testimony of the students is that better 

 results are obtained in less time with the water-colors. As a 

 guide to coloring, we recommend the specimens in our museum 

 cases and colored pictures. In the latter case the warning is 

 given to compare the colors of the picture with those of the 

 specimens. Many of our students use the A. W. Mumford 

 pictures, 536 South Clark street, Chicago, or the leaflets of the 

 National Association of Audubon Societies, 1974 Broadway, 

 New York. The former cost two cents and the latter three cents. 

 Students are directed to look up and write out the data on a small 

 number of items, as, family (common name of), time of arrival 

 (in the case of migrants), food and economic importance, song, 

 place and nature of nest, other points worthy of note or of inter- 

 est to children. We avoid stressing eggs as suggestive of undesir- 

 able inquiries in the field and we pay little attention to range 

 because of its lack of relation to local study. Students are urged 

 to include appropriate poems and any printed matter, as clippings, 

 Aubudon leaflets, etc We have sometimes required or suggested 

 a color sketch of the nest, either from one of our specimens or 

 from such a source as Dugmore's Bird Homes. 



Data from a large number of our normal school students show 

 that each plate requires from 15 to 30 minutes to color, averaging 

 not far from 20 minutes Such a "book" as that just described 

 requires from four to eight hours when five birds are taken. 

 Few hours may indicate either talent, speed, or slovenliness. 

 The longer time may be due to pains, mistakes, extra features, 

 and either exhaustive or fruitless library work. If pupils are 

 expected to do only two or three extensive pieces of work, ten 

 birds is a better number. Where the instructor wishes the 

 handwork projects to be more diversified, five birds are all that 

 may be reasonably expected. 



In a school with a large number of sections, or for that matter, 

 in any school, it is desirable to have a number of different com- 



