12 HANDBOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



If he is not molested by cats and bad boys, the robin 

 seems to be fond of man's society. I have found his nest 

 within ten feet of the house, where a farmer and mem- 

 bers of his family worked and passed to and fro all day 

 long. I noticed, however, that he tried to leave and ap- 

 proach the nest unseen. Where is his nest usually placed, 

 and of what is it made ? What sound does the robin make 

 when you alarm or frighten him ? How many eggs are laid 

 in the nest ? Of what color are they ? 



The robin feeds on all kinds of worms and insects. Watch 

 him running along on the grass catching crawling and fly- 

 ing insects and sometimes pulling a worm out of the ground. 

 It is true that he, like his cousins the Catbird and Brown 

 Thrush, is very fond of berries. But should we not be will- 

 ing to pay gladly this trifle for his music and his company ? 

 Once, when a late fall of snow had caught many of our sum- 

 mer birds, I saw a robin greedily eat crumbs of bread thrown 

 on a cleared place. 



You must watch a pair of robins from the time they be- 

 gin to build their nest until the young leave the nest. 

 Make careful notes of your observations and afterwards 

 connect them into the form of a composition. 



10. The Garden Rose. 



MATERIAL : Twigs and flowers of different kinds of garden roses 

 and wild roses ; fresh hips and hips of last season ; twigs of wild plum 

 with thorns. The children should have observed the breaking of the 

 buds and the opening of the flowers, before the lesson. 



If we were asked which one of all the flowers we think 

 most beautiful, most of us, I think, would vote for the Rose 

 as the Queen of Flowers. Here we have them large and 

 small, deep red, snow-white, blushing pink, and yellow. 

 Even in the wild roses of the prairie and the woods, we find 

 an unlimited variety of most delicate hues. 



