196 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



At home, in Norway, we do not murder any of our song birds. 

 Our children liave for years banded themselves together in clubs to 

 protect the birds' nests. But what we gain by this for our fields, 

 gardens and woods is as notliing in comparison with what we gain 

 for the education of our children in weaning them from cruelty 

 and making (hem the protectors of the little birds. It teaches them 

 to control their feelings and awakens enthusiasm for worthy causes. 

 Their love of destruction we change to magnanimity. In Norway 

 it is the school that teaches children their duty to song birds, and 

 in the schools they form their societies for bird protection. 



The example of the schools of Norway should be emulated 

 in this country, and indications are that it will be followed 

 in the future, and many teachers have asked for literature 

 on how to identify birds and how to attract them about the 

 school or home. This demand has been met by the distribu- 

 tion of Nature Leaflets ISTos. 12, 15 and 22 to 25, published 

 by the State Board of Agriculture. The demand for bird 

 study in the schools of the country is growing constantly, 

 and efforts are made by educators to meet it. Thousands 

 of teachers each year are taking special courses in bird study 

 and nature study in general in the summer schools. Normal 

 training schools are sending out teachers with some training 

 in these branches. Some States have published books on 

 birds for use in the schools, and the demand for bird books 

 has resulted in the recent publication of low-priced pocket 

 manuals with colored plates representing most of the species 

 of birds inhabiting the United States. In many towns and 

 cities supervisors of nature study are engaged, a part of 

 whose duty it is to foster the studj^ of birds in the schools. 

 The Audubon societies are forming what are called junior 

 Audubon classes in the schools of the country and furnishing 

 the pupils with leaflets descriptive of birds and their habits, 

 illustrated with colored plates and uncolored plates for the 

 children to color. The nund^er of children enrolled in this 

 way seems to be limited only by the resources of the societies 

 that furnish the material. 



The great difficulty with our system of education is that 

 pupils do not learn how to use their eyes. They have been 

 accustomed to learning from print and see little in nature 



