BIRDS 83 



Chapman's " Bird Life," Wright's " Citizen Bird " and " Birdcraft," 

 Hornaday's " American Natural History," should be frequently 

 consulted. In order to record striking characteristics as a help 

 toward identifying birds, it is suggested that each pupil fill out a 

 table as shown on page 82. 



66. Importance of birds to man. Few animals are more 

 beautiful in form and color than are many of our most com- 

 mon birds, and one of the greatest delights of springtime 

 is to greet the return of the bluebirds, tanagers, thrushes, 

 and others of our feathered friends. " To appreciate the 

 beauty of form and plumage of birds, their grace of motion 

 and musical powers, we must know them. . . . Once aware 

 of their existence, and we shall see a bird in every bush and 

 find the heavens their pathway. One moment we may 

 admire the beauty of their plumage, the next marvel at the 

 ease and grace with which they dash by us or circle high over- 

 head. . . . The comings and goings of our migratory birds 

 in springtime and fall, their nest-building and rearing of 

 young, their many regular and beautiful ways as exhibited in 

 their daily lives, stir within us impulses for kindness toward 

 the various creatures which share the world with us. ... 

 But birds will appeal to us most strongly through their song. 

 When your ears are attuned to the music of birds, your world 

 will be transformed. Birds' songs are the most eloquent of 

 Nature's voices : the gay carol of the grosbeak in the morn- 

 ing, the dreamy, midday call of the pewee, the vesper hymn 

 of the thrush, the clanging of geese in springtime, the farewell 

 of the bluebird in the fall, how clearly each one expresses 

 the sentiment of the hour or season ! " Quoted from 

 Bulletin No. 3 of University of Nebraska, and from Chap- 

 man's " Bird Life." 



The value of birds to man as objects of beauty cannot be 

 measured, it is true, in dollars and cents; but were we to 



