even there the teacher will fail in arous- 

 ing a feeling of compassion in a natur- 

 ally cruel child's mind, unless her own 

 sympathies are genuine, and not as- 

 sumed for the time or place. Here 

 more than anywhere else, it seems to 

 me, intelligence, if not love, should 

 prompt the teacher to familiarize her- 

 self with the treatment necessary not 

 only to the well-being but to the happi- 

 ness of the little captives held for the 

 purpose of jiature-study in her class. 



As spring opens, thousands of would- 

 be naturalists, stimulated by nature- 

 study in schools, will, no doubt, begin 

 their universal search for birds' eggs, 

 not from any particular interest in sci- 

 ence, but as they collect stamps or 

 marbles, simply to see how many they 

 can get. In this way millions of birds 

 are destroyed with no thought beyond 

 the transitory triumph and pleasure of 

 getting them. This egg-collecting 

 should not be encouraged by the teach- 

 ers. On the contrary every boy should 

 be told that a true naturalist does not 

 slaughter animals, or rob birds' nests 

 promiscuously; that he is the first to 

 remonstrate against wanton waste of 

 life; that he does not take eggs of com- 

 mon birds at all, and never empties a 

 nest unless of a rare bird, and some- 

 times not always then. These argu- 

 ments will prevail among a few who 

 have the real naturalist's instinct, but to 

 the many who either do not know, or 

 do not care, about the cruelty they m- 

 flict upon the parent birds in thus rob- 

 bing them of their treasures, another 

 appeal must be made. Picture the 

 family life of the innocent little crea- 

 tures — a lesson indeed to people of 



larger growth; how they guard their 

 nests with almost human care and wis- 

 dom, and how they cherish their young 

 with as faithful and self-sacrificing love 

 as parents of human families. Impress 

 upon their young minds how many 

 days of toil the mother-bird, aided by 

 her mate, spent in building the nest 

 which they purpose to rifle, of her joy 

 and pride when the first q^,^ was depos- 

 ited, and all the patiently borne days of 

 brooding which followed. Surely a 

 boy not wholly depraved would be 

 moved by such a recital, and thus thou- 

 sands of birds be saved, and through 

 their influence, protected. In this way, 

 too, might not the whole question of 

 slaughtering birds for millinery pur- 

 poses be solved, for what mother or sis- 

 ter could turn a deaf ear to the re- 

 proaches of a child, or to pleadings 

 from young lips for more humane treat- 

 ment of their feathered friends? 



That the small boy is not without 

 wit, and quick to perceive the differ- 

 ence between precept and practice, the 

 following anecdote, I think, will aptly 

 prove: 



She was smartly dressed, and when 

 she met one of her scholars bearing off 

 a nest in which were five pretty little 

 speckled eggs, she did not hesitate to 

 stop him. 



" You are a wicked boy," she ex- 

 claimed indignantly. "How could you 

 rob the birds of their nest? No doubt, 

 at this very minute, the poor mother is 

 hovering about the tree grieving for 

 the loss of the eggs which you carry." 



''Oh, she dofit care," replied the 

 urchin, edging off with a derisive smile, 

 ''she's on vour hat.'' 



FEBRUARY. 



The old, old wonder of the leng-thening days 



Is with us once again; the winter's sun, 



Slow sinking- to the west when day is done, 

 Each eve a little longer with us stays, 

 And cheers the snowy landscape with his rays; 



Nor do we notice what he has begun 



Until a month or more of days have run. 

 When we exclaim: " How long the light delays! " 

 So let some kindly deed, however slight, 



Be daily done by us, that to the waste 



Of selfishness some light it may impart — 

 Mayhap not noticed till we feel the night 



Is less within our souls, and broader-spaced 

 Has grown the cheerful sunshine of the heart. 



— Samuel Francis Batchelder. 



