70 Bird - Lore 



BIRD-STUDY IN VIRGINIA 



It may be of interest to some of our readers to know about the Junior 

 Audubon Society we had at Timberville, Va., which was organized in January 

 of this year (19 19). We all enjoyed it exceedingly, and I am sure that, besides 

 this, it did good in the hearts and lives of the Httle folk who were members. 

 They learned a great many facts about birds which will never be forgotten 

 and it will be a great pleasure for them to meet with their bird friends year after 

 year. A society of twenty members was formed in my first grade. After we 

 received our literature and had begun working, all the other children in the first 

 grade joined and others came from other grades and asked to join. 



Before six weeks had passed, our society numbered 114 members. We held 

 our meetings twice a week. A new bird was taken up at each meeting and 

 studied. We studied forty-eight birds altogether. At every lesson a little review 

 was made of previous lessons. The following outline was used in our notebooks: 



I. Name of bird. 3. Nest. 5. Young. 



2-ColorjS^:i, 4. Eggs. 6. Food. 



At different times in the spring, short programs were prepared, made up of 

 songs, recitations, etc., and given in chapel before the whole school. Sometimes, 

 instead of a regular meeting, we would go for a bird-walk, then within the 

 next day or two, during language period, papers were written telling of the birds 

 we saw. Nearly always they could identify the birds themselves, sometimes I 

 helped them, sometimes my bird-book helped me. One day my primer class 

 was reading when one little six-year-old boy held up his hand and said, "Oh, 

 Mrs. Hulvey, look out there on the post is a Downy Woodpecker." We all went 

 quietly to the windows for fear we would scare him away, and there, only about 

 10 feet away, was little Downy getting his dinner. We called in the other 

 grades and took turns watching him. At noon there were nearly a hundred 

 children around the post all trying to see where little Downy had been. The 

 day before we had a lesson on the Downy Woodpecker and little Garland 

 recognized him at once by the picture we had used. We had quite a number of 

 songs about different birds that the children took great delight in singing. Old 

 bird-nests were collected and examined. 



In the spring nearly one-third of our members made bird-houses which were 

 placed on poles and in the trees. Everyone of us thoroughly enjoyed watching 

 our bird friends making their new homes and caring for their young. 



This session I have organized a Society of twenty-five members in my 

 second grade in the Denton Primary School, Denton, Md., and hope by spring 

 to have many more children have a keen interest and true love for their httle 

 brothers in the air. — Tenney Cline Hulvey, Denton, Md. 



[Mrs. Hulvey is to be congratulated upon her success in forming Junior Audubon 

 Societies. One can be sure that she feels well repaid for the effort which she puts forth 

 by the response she gets from the children under her charge. The teacher who has not 

 entered this field does not know how much easier it makes all teaching. — A. A. A.] 



