THE APPEAL OF THE SPORT 



don't care for shooting. Gunners can hunt only in the 

 fall, but our hunting lasts the whole year. Their 

 game, too, is limited to a few kinds, while we have 

 every sort of bird that flies." 



So we talked along till we came to the village, agreeing 

 to go to the pond next day at dusk and try to "get" the 

 Black Duck. 



While Ned is gone, it is a good chance to talk behind 

 his back and tell a little about him. 



A great many people nowadays are interested in 

 birds, and many schools have taken it up as a study 

 and recreation combined. This is the case in the school 

 which Ned attends. They have colored pictures of 

 native birds pinned up on the walls, and charts which 

 explain in an easy way the classification of birds, the 

 groups into which they are divided, and which kinds, 

 or species, of birds are likely to be found in that locality, 

 and at what seasons. The teachers take parties of 

 their pupils out on excursions or "bird walks," noticing 

 the flowers and trees as well, or any other interesting 

 objects, and grand good times they have. Several 

 members of a party have field or opera glasses to see 

 the shier birds more plainly, and so tell what they are. 

 These boys or girls soon come to recognize all the com- 

 mon birds about as far off as they can see them, and are 

 able to give them their right names. At school they 

 keep a list of the birds seen and identified during the 

 year, and each scholar is given credit for the ones he is 

 the first to find, so that competition becomes very keen. 



