288 ECONOMIC ZOOLOGY AND ENTOMOLOGY 



should some birds raise but one brood a year, and others two 

 or even three? Does the fact that a bird is an all-year resident 

 or only a summer resident have any influence in determining 

 its nesting time and the number of broods it rears? Compare 

 the habits of the various breeding species of the locality, and 

 find out if the summer residents have any breeding habits in 

 common as distinguished from the all-year residents. 



Observe the behavior of the birds in courting time. Do the 

 males have "singing contests," as is sometimes reported? Do 

 they fight with each other? Do the males or females show any 

 differences, at this time, from their more usual plumage? 

 After mating which bird selects the nesting site? Are old 

 nesting sites preferred to new ones? If two broods are reared 

 is a new nest built for the second one? What are the principal 

 causes of mortality among the eggs and young during the breed- 

 ing season ? What instincts or habits of the parents have direct 

 reference to these dangerous conditions? What means of 

 protecting the nest are resorted to? What is the behavior of 

 the parents toward enemies of the young? 



Distribution and Migration. The geographical distribu- 

 tion of animals is a subject of much importance, and offers 

 good opportunities in its more local features for student field- 

 work. The field-study of the birds of a given locality will 

 comprise much observation bearing directly on zoogeography, or 

 the distribution of animals. Certain birds will be found to 

 be limited to certain parts of even a small region; the swimmers 

 will be found in ponds and streams, and the long-legged shore 

 birds on the pond- or stream-banks, or in the marshes and 

 wet meadows, although a few, like the upland-plover, curlews, 

 and godwits are common on the dry upland pastures. Dis- 

 tinguish the ground birds of the shrubs and hedge-rows, and 

 these again from the strictly forest birds. Find the special 

 haunts of swallows and king-fishers. Which are the shy birds 

 driven constantly deeper into the wild places, or being ex- 

 terminated by the advance of man? Which birds do not re- 

 treat, but even find an advantage in man's seizure of the land, 

 obtaining food from his fields and gardens? 



Make a map on large scale of the locality of the school, 



