128 Bird -Lore 



ten minutes after the female's restlessness, the male came. Then they flew 

 into a tree near by and began to chat with each other, and in about two min- 

 utes they flew away again. On April 8, they were in the same place as they 

 were on the day before. I saw the female fly into the tree where they were 

 the day before. The male flew away. In a little while he came back with some 

 string in his beak. The female began to call anxiously when she saw him coming. 

 They began to build their nest right away, and before night it was finished. 

 On April 10, two days later, the female was sitting, and the rest of that week 

 the male was busily engaged bringing the female food. On April 22, the female 

 was with the male getting food. I watched them, and I saw five little mouths 

 open to the two older birds. They fed them faithfully until May 11, then the 

 two old birds flew to the ground with all of their little brood, and on May 12, 

 we found three of the little birds dead. I think the storm that we had on the 

 night of May 12 killed them. — Eleanor Neakel (age 12), 7th Grade, Chelsea, 

 Mich. 



Once upon a time, about the 27th of April, we boys were out in the woods, 

 and we were out all day. We saw some Robins and Orioles. The Robins had 

 their nest in the tree we were under. We climbed up the tree, and the nest 

 had four eggs in it. On the way home we stumbled over a bog,* and a little 

 Meadowlark flew out of it. It had four eggs in its nest. When we were com- 

 ing across the marsh, we saw two Kingfishers and an Oriole. When we were 

 nearly home, we saw a Wild Canary or Goldfinch. This winter I made a bird- 

 house and put food in it, and put it up high enough so no dogs or cats could 

 get into it, but no birds came there. A few days ago I saw a flock of Geese go 

 over towards a marsh. Out in the woods we saw a lot of Orioles and lots of 

 Robins. Last night I saw a Barn Swallow and some bats. As I was coming 

 home from school I saw three English Sparrows fighting over a nest. It was 

 a Robin's nest. — Glen Troten (age 13), 7th Grade, Chelsea, Mich. 



[The observations given above show how much one may see of outdoor life, when 

 ear and eye are on the alert. It would interest these young people to read The 

 Home-Life of Wild Birds, by Herrick, now that they are aware of some of the interesting 

 things birds are doing about them. A college professor once complained that the class of 

 young ladies he took out to observe the birds during the spring saw and heard little unless 

 he pointed out just what to look at, or called attention to the various sounds one might 

 hear who really listened for Nature's voices. The trouble with these students was that 

 they had never been taught to look and listen. They had always studied books and 

 learned to remember what they read, but they knew nothing about studying without a 

 book. 



The great value of bird- and nature-study is that it helps people to find out things 

 by themselves, making their eyes keen to see, their ears to hear, and their minds to 

 grasp facts which are not set down in print. Training of this kind makes education a 

 pleasure and not a task. — A. H. W.] 



*Used locally in the United States, according to Webster, for "a little elevated piece of earth in a 

 marsh or swanp, filled with roots and grass." — Ed. 



