148 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [16:4— April, 1920 



own. Therefore we must appeal to the small child by showing 

 him how a bird lives and how it is fitted to live just that way, in 

 order to arouse the right kind of interest in bird life. This is 

 another of the anomalies discovered through practical experience. 

 The anatomy, physiology and ecology of the bird are taught to the 

 grown-up student after he has gained a somewhat wide knowledge 

 of bird species and habits. However, the writer has taught little 

 children about birds and she discovered their natural interests in 

 them and was astonished to find how much of a bird's adaptations 

 and habits the child of six just naturally observes and compre- 

 hends. As a matter of fact the children teach themselves with 

 only a little helpful guidance. 



The first thing a child notices in a bird is that it can fly and 

 usually he tries flapping his arms in imitation of wings thus 

 attempting to fly also. Thus he is naturally interested in the 

 bird's wings with the overlapping feathers that help the bird to 

 push itself thru the air. The following jingle is the bird's expla- 

 nation : 



Feathers have I on my fingers, 

 Just like a feather fan. 



I can shut my fans together, 

 But when I need, I can 



Open wide and fan the air 



So hard, I fly 'most anywhere. 



The study of the bird's wing leads naturally to the observation 

 of the other feathers and therefore the bird's clothing. The fluff 

 at the base of the breast feathers and the down are manifestly 

 "underwear" and the outside, smooth, overlapping feathers con- 

 stitute the bird's coat or "makintosh." The handsome plumage 

 shows another use for feathers and that is to make the bird beau- 

 tiful. 



Our next consideration is naturally what and how a bird eats and 

 how it finds its food. The canary eats seeds, the hen eats seeds 

 and insects also ; the robin pulls out earthworms from the soil, the 

 duck finds its food on the water weeds, the kingfisher catches fish, 

 etc. The hen has a horny beak to enable her to pick things out of 

 the soil, the duck has a boad flat beak to seize and strain the food 

 out of the water, the swallow has a broad beak which serves to help 

 keep its mouth wide open so that it can swoop in insects while it is 

 flying. While observing the beak it is natural to see the tongue, 

 the nostrils, and the eyes of the bird and in some cases the ears. 

 Thus a child comes to know that the bird has senses like his own. 



