BIRD STUDY 83 



The common birds are thus neglected in most secondary 

 schools, and those who are called upon to teach find them- 

 selves deficient in the knowledge of birds, which are a very 

 important subject in every course in nature-study. Teachers 

 should strive to make up this lack. There are many excellent 

 colored bird keys, with which the most common birds can 

 be identified, and a knowledge of them will not only be of 

 great use to teachers in nature-study, but will afford much 

 pleasure. 



Observing the Birds 



The ideal way to study birds is to go out and observe them 

 in their native haunts. Most birds are shy and rather rare, 

 so it is not practicable generally to take a class out to study 

 any particular kinds. They would fly away, or hide, at the 

 approach of the class. On field trips with a class, birds may 

 be met with incidentally, but cannot be depended upon for a 

 lesson. Of course, such birds as English sparrows, doves, 

 eaves-swallows, bank-swallows, which are tame or live in 

 colonies, can be well studied with a class. Or, if a nest has 

 been discovered in a good location, the class may make ob- 

 servations on the eggs, the young, and some of the habits of 

 the parent birds in taking care of the young. 



But the best bird study is carried on by individual ob- 

 servation, or by a very small group of pupils. Get the 

 children to be on the watch for birds. Have the older ones 

 make notes of their observations. Perhaps assign special 

 birds to individual pupils or to a group. For instance, have 

 some observe and report on the English sparrow, others on 

 the robin, bluebird, swallows, etc. Assign especially to such 

 pupils at whose homes certain birds have nested the observa- 



