ABRAHAM H. BA TES, 1 17 



ORNITHOLOGY IN OUR COMMON SCHOOLS. 



BY ABRAHAM H. BATES, CHICAGO. 



Of all those creatures that we are pleased to call dumb 

 animals, birds are the most vivacious and interesting. Their 

 wisdom instructs ; their color and motion charm us ; their 

 songs are delightful. If the dappled lily should please, 

 how much more the dappled Thrush with its thrilling song 

 and graceful movement. If the blue violets of spring are 

 charming, how much more the Bluebirds of spring with their 

 caressing song and matchless hue. On the ground of 

 utility, song-birds are not less worthy of consideration ; for 

 beauty and song have a value beyond calculation. 



As I go through a great forest, scarcely a sound disturbs 

 the stillness save the cry of the boding Owl, or the scream of 

 some diurnal bird of prey ; but as I approach the orchard, 

 the garden, the hedgerow, and the shade trees, the air is 

 vocal with the ecstasy of bird music. This means that 

 birds approach man's abode for protection, and in return 

 will amply repay their protectors with song that lasts from 

 break of day till dewy eve. 



That our little feathered friends shall be duly understood 

 and appreciated, we must begin by teaching every child 

 something of the nature and value of song-birds. Our state 

 schools have already made a beginning. A few scientific 

 text books have been introduced ; and better still, reading 

 lessons by John Burroughs and others. Some of our super- 

 intendents and principals have taken the matter in hand. 

 Seeing that ornithology was no part of the course of study, 

 they have prescribed a number of valuable lessons on birds. 



