Cleaves: Nature Study in the Public Schools 125 



have the satisfaction of seeing them tenanted by bluebirds or 

 wrens. In the winter he can erect a small shelf or food counter 

 and be delighted beyond description by the charming presence of 

 nuthatches, woodpeckers, chickadees, titmice, j uncos, etc. But, 

 perhaps best of all, he can observe the birds daily and al all times 

 of the year by walking only a short distance from home ; and even 

 while going to and returning from school he may see something 

 of sufficient importance to warrant its being reported to his 

 teacher. 



Although we may expect to find the maximum of wild life in 

 the purely rural sections — and no doubt we could discover many 

 a country lad whose ability to name the birds would fill us with 

 admiration — yet it is a fact, perhaps as a result of the very abun- 

 dance of nature's treats, that many country boys are either not 

 appreciative of the riches of nature or are callous to them. Thus 

 it is that the children of the country take as a matter of course 

 or even treat with indifiference those things which their little 

 cousins of the city would be eager to observe and to be told about, 

 but which they are denied through unfortunate circumstances. 



But what applies in the city to birds cannot by any means be 

 so uniformly applied to other forms of life. To suit the needs of 

 the general observer, plants grow as well in the botanical garden 

 as they do in the open country. Unlike the birds they are quite 

 constant in habits under the somewhat abnormal conditions pro- 

 duced by man. The trees in the parks, too, although not always 

 the healthiest of specimens, will nevertheless serve the purpose of 

 enabling the pupil to distinguish the various kinds. 



When we arrive at the subject of fishes we find the conditions 

 somewhat reversed, for the city boy or girl has at his or her dis- 

 posal the best of opportunities for observing the members of the 

 finny tribe in the aquarium. And what is true of the fishes is 

 also true of the Crustacea (lobsters, crabs, etc.) and of certain 

 turtles, waterbugs, and tadpoles. 



In my mind, therefore, nature study in the schools seems to 

 resolve itself into three phases: 



I. The city, where knowledge must be gained in the class- 



