BIRDS. 47 



toes on each of its hind feet and one more on each of the front 

 ones, and it lacks a tail. A rabbit has five toes on its fore feet ; 

 the two hindmost ones, its "thumbs," are apt to be overlooked. 



Do rabbits and guinea-pigs eat in the same way 1 Do they 

 drink alike 1 What is the favorite food of each ? Like the 

 rabbit, has the guinea-pig three eye-lids ? Do its eyes stand 

 out so that it can see as far behind it as the rabbit without 

 turning its head] Does it move its nose like the rabbit? 

 Why cannot it jump so far 1 What sounds does each make 

 and what do they signify ? Watch the habits of the animals 

 to observe and compare the uses they make of ears, eyes, 

 whiskers, nose, teeth, feet. 



The remark may be made in this connection, although it 

 bears upon the work of a higher grade, that children in 

 examining a rabbit's teeth are liable to suppose that the two 

 upper-grooved incisors are four teeth and to overlook two thin 

 incisors in the immediate rear of the grooved front ones. The 

 rabbit has four incisors in the upper jaw and two in the lower, 

 and six upper molars and five lower ones on each side, making 

 a total of twenty-eight teeth. The guinea-pig has two incisors 

 above and two below, and two premolars and six molars on 

 each side, twenty in all. The information may be given that 

 rodent incisors are covered with enamel on the front side only 

 and that the softer dentine at the back wears away more 

 easily than the enamel. The pupils can then infer how these 

 teeth acquire their chisel-shape. Children in the first grade 

 take more interest in the habits and actions of animals, the 

 sounds they make and the affections they show, than in their 

 structure. 



Birds. — Bird-life is attractive but difficult to hold under 

 that kind of continuous and connected observation that is 

 most educative. Encourage individual observations of birds 

 along the lines suggested in the curriculum ; pay much atten- 

 tion to bird-life, movement and song, when out with children 



