THE ROBIN 91 



XII 



THE ROBIN 



Note to the Teacher. — This study of the robin will con- 

 tinue during the whole of the spring term. It is not intended 

 that it should be carried on for a week or two on consecutive 

 days and then dropped. The different phases in the life of the 

 robin — first appearance, appearance of the females, nest building, 

 incubation, flight from the nest, care of fledgelings after leaving 

 the nest — will be studied as they appear in the life of the robin. 

 Studies of other birds, of flowers, and of trees will be carried 

 along with the study of the robin. The children will be watch- 

 ing the robins every day, but only when there is something inter- 

 esting to report will a recitation period, or part of a period, be 

 given up to talks about it. The teacher herself must be as alert 

 in observing as the children, and have as much or more to con- 

 tribute to the recitation. She will give her observations if there 

 is time for her to talk, or if these observations will materially 

 contribute to the children's interest in the robin, but she must not 

 rob the children of a chance to tell what they have seen. 



See who will be first this spring to see a robin. 



[The older children will write down the date of its 



appearance, in notebooks made by them. A page 



or more in this nature notebook is devoted to 



notes on the robin, which the children make from 



time to time as something particularly interesting 



occurs. The teacher writes the date of the robin's 



arrival on the board for the younger children.] 



Notice the gay dress of these robins that are the 



