FOR THE USE OF TEACHERS. 



No. 8. 



Leaflet 



On Nature Study. 



Especially Adapted to the Use of Children in Schools 

 IN Rural Districts. 



PREPARED BY THE 



FACULTY OF PURDUE UNIVERSITY. 



SPRING BIRDS. 



By Mrs. Jeanette D. Ruby. 



I wonder why every boy that can borrow a gun goes out into the 

 woods, and tries to kill birds. I sometimes think it is because boys, 

 and even grown people for that matter, know so little about birds. 

 When we become acquainted with our native birds and learn their 

 habits and know what they eat, we find that nearly all of them are help- 

 ful to us, and that only a very few are ever harmful to us. Suppose 

 you write down upon one slip of paper the ways in which birds help us, 

 and on another the ways in which they harm us. Which list is the 

 longer? Perhaps when you first think about it the second wiLL be the 

 longer; but keep the lists, and during the summer keep your eyes open 

 and note down every good thing and every bad thing you see birds 

 do. When the season is over, I believe you will care for the birds not 

 merely because they are so beautiful, but also because they are so help- 

 ful. You think the owls are altogether bad, perhaps, but try to find 

 out what they feed upon and see if it is true. Of course they may eat 

 a chicken occasionally, but you know that the owls in your neighbor- 

 hood do not eat enough chickens to keep them alive. You guard your 

 chickens too carefully for that. What do you think they eat when 

 they cannot get chicken? When you find out let me know whether 

 you think that even the owls are altogether bad. You can watch the 

 screech owl more easily than any other perhaps, because it is so very 



