140 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW 



sharply with quick motions of his head, but no sound, and pop 

 into a round hole in the stump, rem.ain alrD.ost hidden for a moment, 

 only the tip of his tail showing, then we might see his head, with 

 black, shiny eyes, appear, his bill full of fragm.ents of soft wood, 

 and after a look around to see if all is safe, a quick flitting to a 

 distance of a few rods to drop the tell-tale chips, then back again 

 for more^digging, perhaps helped by his m.ate, and so on till the 

 hole is deep enough. 



Without question that stum.p would be "sacred ground," and the 

 picture of it would rem.ain in mind for all time. It would reqtiire' 

 no urging to watch the progress of the work, the home life of the 

 parents, one bringing food to the other and, later, to the babies, 

 and the advent of the young chickadees to the outside world. 

 All the calHngs, and twitterings, and balancing and clinging in all 

 sorts of positions, the friendliness and the trust of these feathered 

 midgets, would give m.any a "thrill," and if, as easily can be done, 

 sufficient confidence were established so that one of these mites would 

 com.e freely to head, hand or even lips for a bit of nut held there, 

 no thought of harming the little friend could even occur to the 

 recipient of such trust. 



Then what pleasure to be able to imitate the call and songs of 

 chickadee, and others, m^any of which can be called to one, with 

 answering calls, and songs, given only patience enough. 



Which of these is the "best " kind of biid study? 



Probably, in practice, we combine all of these in proportions 

 to fit the needs of our "clientele." 



The identification and description might be classed as purely 

 intellectual, the consideration of food as economic, the percep- 

 tion of daintiness and sweetness esthetic, and the thrill of love and 

 desire to protect as purely moral or spiritual. But why classify 

 these results? 



Personally, we believe that every member of a camp (or school) 

 should "be exposed" to "catching" some interest in and love for 

 nature and nature's doings. Not only that, but also that first 

 or last, each should have here attention called, commandingly, to 

 various phases of nature, although some lines might receive more 

 emphasis in a boy's camp, others in a girls' camp, and, of course 

 age and maturity would have influence. Converts are many times 

 made that way. 



