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Bird - Lore 



anxious to know more of the bird-world, and Muhlenberg's eighty-five-acre 

 campus offered the opportimity. Gathering this kind of thesis material 

 out-of-doors was vastly preferable to the usual library research, and every 

 hour's preparation for such a paper gave complete and healthful relaxation. 

 The final and lasting results of this study meant a better appreciation of the 

 woods and fields; for an interest in bird life, if once aroused, lives on, and the 



acquisition is permanent. 



The title was 'Birds of the 

 Muhlenberg Campus,' not ''Bird 

 Life about Muhlenberg.' Strong 

 emphasis was placed first of all upon 

 studying only a strictly limited area, 

 which made for definite results from 

 the beginning. Eighty-five acres 

 could be worked and reworked con- 

 sistently and carefully, and all parts 

 visited daily.! ' Every moment on the 

 grounds spent out-of-doors could be 

 utilized for collecting data, and the 

 brief walks between the dormitories, 

 the administration buildings and 

 the dining-hall, became short bird- 

 observation walks. Working only 

 within the confines of the campus 

 meant concentration, and made pos- 

 sible accurate and valuable results; 

 for little of importance among the 

 birds occurred on the campus that 

 spring which was not noted. This 

 would- have been impossible if the 

 area studied had not been limited. 

 Muhlenberg's campus, like the great majority of college precincts, is well 

 suited to bird-study. The tall oaks of North Grove, the open fields to the west, 

 the wide smooth lawns of the campus proper interrupted by its shrubbery, 

 the wild remnant of woodland in South Grove, the orchard and farm, and 

 Cedar Creek with its swampy meadows all send out permanent invitations 

 to our feathered friends. 



A map of the campus was made from blue-prints, and photographs were 

 taken of the various bird habitats there represented, and these were embodied 

 in the finished thesis. Fig. i shows a corner of the campus proper. Fig. 2 is a 

 glimpse of South Grove, Fig. 3 gives an idea of the orchard and farm, and Fig. 

 4 pictures the meadows of Cedar Creek. A glance at the corresponding numerals 

 on the map will give an idea of the relative location of these bird haunts. 



A GLIMPSE OF SOUTH GROVE 



