378 Lore - Bird 



11. What becomes of the butterflies? 



12. Study goldenrods and asters. What insects do you find on them? Do birds 

 visit them? 



13. Count the number of times a cricket sings per minute. 



14. Does a change in weather affect the singing of crickets, and, if so, how? 



15. Make a collection of weed-seeds, studying the distribution of weeds and the 

 birds which feed upon them. 



REFERENCES 



Weed: Life Histories of American Insects. 



Cragin: Our Insect Friends and Foes. 



Comstock: Insect Life. 



Comstock: Handbook of Nature-Study. 



Ingersoll: Nature's Calendar. 



Gibson: Sharp Eyes. 



Sharp: Wild Life near Home.— A. H. W. 



FROM YOUNG OBSERVERS 

 THE VALUE OF BIRDS 



For the last two or three years I have been making a study of birds, and 1 

 am very much interested in them. We have an Audubon Society which meets 

 every two weeks. There are thirty-six members. 



The Mockingbird is one of the best singers of the United States. The 

 Nightingale of Europe and the Mockingbird of the United States are valued the 

 same for singing. The Mockingbird is one of the first to sing in the spring. In 

 the states that border on the Gulf of Mexico the Mockingbird sings all the 

 winter, and sometimes up to the northern border of the Southern States. He 

 sings on a bright, clear February morning, when ice is on the trees. 



The Cardinals are beautiful song-birds. They have for a long time been 

 cage-birds. They have beautiful plumage and a beautiful song; that is why so 

 many people have them for cage-birds. They are sometimes called the 'Vir- 

 ginia Nightingales.' 



The Carolina Wren calls, 'Tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea-kettle, sweet-william, 

 sweet-william, sweet-william, come-to-me, come-to-me, come-to-me.' It has 

 such a sweet tone! 



The Robins are the most helpful birds. They kill a large number of insects 

 in one day. They save the farmers' dollars by eating the insects that kill their 

 crops. The people of Virginia passed a law that the Robins should not be killed. 

 They go down South to stay through the winter where it is warm. The people 

 down there go out at night with torches and kill them when they cannot get 

 away. Down South the Robins eat some kind of berries most of the time. The 

 berries make them drunk and they cannot fly. 



The Bob-white or Partridge, which it is sometimes called, helps the farmers 



