166 HANDBOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



To form an idea how many insects are destroyed by birds, 

 you must watch a pair feeding their young. You will find 

 that for hours caterpillars, grasshoppers, and other insects 

 are brought to the nest at intervals of only a few minutes. 

 From such observations you can calculate approximately 

 the number of grasshoppers, for instance, which a brood 

 of robins would eat in two weeks or during the whole 

 summer. Let several of the children make such observa- 

 tions, and let the class know the results. 



Birds, however, are our friends in more than one way. 

 By their song and beautiful plumage, they contribute much 

 to our happiness and cheerfulness. They are inseparably 

 connected with bright flowers and green woods, with cool 

 shade and mellow sunshine. They add beauty and poetry 

 to life, and every child loves them as naturally as he loves 

 the flowers. But if you would attract them to your home, 

 you must plant some trees and shrubs, and must allow some 

 wild vines and bushes to grow. Most birds prefer small 

 woods, copses, and groves to large, dense forests. In large 

 forests birds are numerous only around the edges and near 

 other openings. Since our country became settled, the 

 common song birds have multiplied considerably, because 

 the number of their natural enemies, as foxes, minks, wild- 

 cats, etc., has been much reduced, and because thousands of 

 groves in the prairie states now provide almost ideal homes 

 for the birds, where formerly they found no resting-place. 



Pupils and teachers who would like to learn more about our birds 

 than space permits us here are referred to Birdcraft, by Mabel O. 

 Wright, which will enable you to recognize about two hundred birds. 

 A Year with the Birds, by Wilson Flagg, forms interesting reading 

 on birds. 



A systematic review of the birds thus far studied might properly 

 follow these lessons ; but as the material for this review can be pro- 

 cured at any time, the chapter is given later, when material for other 

 lessons cannot be procured. 



