oe teens te 1 OuNG Br Ul isle Si Lo) 35 
Bird Interest at the S. I. N. U. 
FE ARE located in the southern part of Illinois at the foot of the 
Ozark range. A lovely shaded natural campus surrounds the 
buildings, making it an ideal place for bird study. 
In the fall we discussed with the training school children the mi- 
gratory and permanent resident birds and decided to care for the latter 
all winter. We tied suet on the bare trees and bushes and spread crumbs 
outside on the window ledges. The birds would come up hopping, stop, 
cock their heads to one side in a saucy manner, look, hop a little closer 
as if not quite trusting the situation, then fly back to a branch and 
finally stoop over and take a bite. Then with whirr of wings and a 
cheep, as much as to say “thank you,” they would fly away. 
One morning early in March a streak of red flashed past my window. 
There were two red birds investigating the bushes on the east side of 
the training school, perhaps for a nesting place but more likely just 
stopping long enough for the season to change farther north. They 
stayed around for several days and then left. Although we saw many 
others after that we did not feel quite sure they were the two of early 
March. Some cardinals stay here all winter. 
Everyone was all agog wondering who should find the next bird. On 
the twelfth of March a little fourth-grade girl came in and reported that 
she had seen a bluebird that morning. Before long others were coming 
in with similar reports. Then followed in rapid succession robins, gold- 
finches, titmice, red-wing blackbirds, mocking birds, and cat birds; 
but the climax was reached when the martins came and actually built 
their home about a mile from the campus. 
With all the birds coming and nesting came the problem of how to 
keep them near us to cheer our hot Southern I[|linois summer days and 
evenings. The birds were here, the children were eager to learn about 
them, and interest ran high. 
““Can’t we make bird houses? Can’t we have feeding stations?” 
were some of the questions asked. 
With enthusiasm running high we dug out all the old plans of bird 
houses. Every plan book heard of was searched, letters were even 
written to bird house companies and plans were constructed on paper. 
Everyone was busy from the third grade to the sixth. Ribbon prizes 
were offered for the best planned and constructed bird houses. The 
children lived and talked birds, bird houses and plans for a week before 
April sixteenth, Arbor Day in Illinois. 
The evening of the fifteenth of April we had forty-seven bird 
houses to exhibit. True and honest workmanship were the standards of 
the judges. There was every conceivable style of bird house, from a 
