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Bird Work at Wellesley College 



BY MARION E. HUBBARD 



Instructor in Zoology -at Wellesley College 



BIRD study at Wellesley is a part of the course in 

 general biology, and consists of field work, of 

 lectures and of laboratory practice throughout the 

 second half-year. Though, however, it is conducted by 

 the department of zoology, and for the benefit of those 

 students who elect that course, the lectures are open to 

 all, and there exists throughout the college a genuine 

 interest in the subject. 

 The facilities for this work at Wellesley are, for a college, unique. 

 Lake, river and brook, grassy field and marshy meadow, deep wood 

 and cultivated estate, orchard and clearing, hillside and swamp, 

 make the situation singularly attractive, and tempt many birds of 

 many kinds. Those which may easily be seen within a radius of 

 half a mile from the main building number 89, and the list of 

 those recorded within a radius of 8 miles includes 244.* This 

 wealth of material would justify the devoting of time to a pursuit 

 so delightful in itself, were there no educational advantages involved. 

 But when we remember that bird study has been demonstrated to 

 be one of the best of fields for the training of that accurate obser- 

 vation and that clear thinking which every beginner in scientific 

 work must cultivate, the reason for its forming a part of a course 

 on general biology is made clear. 



Not less desirable than the mental training afforded by this 

 pursuit is of course the cultivation of a spirit of friendliness and 

 protection toward these 'brothers of the air.' All studies in natural 

 history tend to develop in us the humane, but birds appeal so 

 naturally and so powerfully to the gentler side of our natures that 

 they need only be known to win love and protection. To interest 

 women in living birds is the surest way to kill their interest in 

 dead ones. 



These, then, are the objects of the work,— the training of a 

 quick and accurate eye, the developing of a thoughtful mind, and 

 the rousing of a chivalrous spirit. And yet, while these aims con- 



*See Morse's "Birds of Wellesley and Vicinity," pp. 7 and 51. 



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