mathewson] NATURE CALENDARS 63 



to welcome and answer our inquiries. In addition to written 

 records of the unfolding of the buds, we may record in sketches 

 or paintings the changing aspect of the tree with the steady march 

 of the weeks. For those children who are the proud possessors 

 of cameras there is the great incentive of taking some pictures 

 which will be of more than ephemeral interest. They may be 

 directed to photograph favorite trees on successive dates, thus 

 securing a photographic record of the tree's appearance to ac- 

 company their written record. The best times for such pic- 

 tures are the weeks intervening between the first swelling of the 

 buds and the full development of the foliage. In some common 

 trees, e. g. the chestnut, the blossom appears long after the 

 leaves. In others, e. g. the witch hazel, the long yellow flowers 

 are usually not to be discovered until late fall, often in Novem- 

 ber. In others the blossoms and even fruits come and go before 

 the leaves appear. Such facts as these are logically noted and 

 emphasized in calendar studies of the proper sort. 



More fascinating than the trees, especially for the children, 

 are the birds. Their beauty, and their ease and grace of motion 

 make their appeal to every one who has not become too callous 

 to care for such things. However, the scarcity of the birds, and 

 their shyness make it much more difficult to make them the sub- 

 ject of continued study by classes outdoors. The bird calendar is 

 one means of directing individual study of the birds. The cal- 

 endar record affords a means of making the children's observa- 

 tions more definite, and the sequential nature of the record helps 

 them to persevere in their efforts to get acquainted with these 

 creatures. Calendars made faithfully and intelligently cannot 

 but give the makers excellent first-hand ideas about migration, 

 migrant visitors, all-the-year-round birds and the like. In addi- 

 tion, if some individual is particularly fortunate it is sometimes 

 possible to get a chronological record of the habits and doings 

 of one bird or of a family of birds, extending over many weeks. 



In the higher grades, • after the children have acquired a 

 fund of nature lore, there is opportunity to make a splendid ap- 

 plication of the things they know by constructing a complete 

 calendar. This would be a record of observed phenomena of a 

 varied character — not merely, in connection with birds, trees, 

 flowers, insects, etc., but with all kinds of natural objects and 

 processes. Thus their knowledge of the names of things, of 

 habits, functions, life histories, and in some cases of economic 

 relationships might be extended in a way that would not be pos- 

 sible in routine class work. Their attention might be directed 



