Ihe Audubon Societies T19 



calendar, i-'crhaps but few of the birds are illustrated the first year, but those 

 that are serve as inspiration for the n(;xt year's ekss to surpass them. As 

 soon as a bird is rejxjrted, its card should [je fjrougljt forih, the date, autfioriiy 

 and locality added, and then it should be hung up in a consjjicuc^us place. 

 Perhaps the class will like to improve upon the j>jcture, and the competition 

 which results will stimulate the drawing lesson, while the presence of the names 

 of the boys and girls in the last year's class who first observed the l>irds the 

 f;revious year will stimulate them to greater observation out of doors. 



Whichever tyjje of calendar is employed, it should always be borne in rnind 

 that quality is better than fjuantity, and that accuracy is of jjrime importonce. 

 The calendar should be sl^rted before the birds begin to come back in the sj>ring, 

 so that it will include the winter residents, '/'he near<;r the first of January it is 

 begun the better, though it may be sorted at any time. 'J'he children must 

 learn to recognize that cerUin birds are with us throughout the year (permanent 

 residents), others merely spend the winter in a given lof;aJity and nest farther 

 north (winter residents), while the majority sjjend the v/inter in the South and 

 either nest with us during the summer (summer residents) or pass through on 

 their way to a more northern nesting-ground (transient visii^nts). The last 

 two classes are the ones that make the keeping of a calendar so interesting, 

 because of the accuracy of their arrival in the springy but the first two must not 

 be forgotten. 



If a teacher will read any of the numerous accounts of bird-migration that 

 have appeared, such as that in the introduction to i>)r. (Chapman's 'Handbook 

 of Birds of Eastern North Ameri<:a,,' or the j>aper by W. W. Cooke on 'liird 

 Migration,' published by the U, S. Department of Agriculture, or the little 

 book entitled 'The Travels of Birds' by Dr. (Jhaprnan, he v/ill be able to make 

 the study of bird -migration and the Ijjrd -calendars much more interesting. 

 For the benefit of those who are unable to refer to a more complete account, 

 the following summary prepared by the writer for th.e American UoreMry 

 Magazine may prove useful. 



THIi Rh.TrjRI4 Of Ti^K JilRDS 



W^hen the high tide of th'; uprmii rn'iiirdUon corn.es, It is about the rni/idle of May arj'i 

 nearly three monih^ h^ve passed since the fJrst HorncA LarJks fiU,r^A'A northward over 

 snow-covered fieWs. The March Robin hnn-^h forth its crowd of admirers, the call of 

 the Bluebird draws a response frorn (Ahara, but when every hcAiif^row and thicket 

 resounds wjth n)usi<;aJ voices, and even the trees of the city streets f^ash with i;ri))j^nt 

 Warblers, everyone likes to stop and listen and notice the unusixal number of birds. 

 We cannot help wondering whx;nce have cortie th<^e little wanderers, where they are 

 going, and what is the meaning of their journeys, in great waves they come from the 

 South, flood us with beauty and song for a few d^ays, and then pass on. Wave aft<;r 

 wave passes over us during the course of the month, until June arrives, when the kst 

 immature birds hasten on to their nesting-ground and leave us with only our summer 

 birds until the fall migration sh^ll bring them back once rnor^. 



A little observation from year to year shows us tha.t these May birds are eztrernely 



