F

ing the story.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

IRST and indispensably, the teacher should have at hand the subject of the lesson. She should make herself familiar with the points covered by the questions and read the story before giving the lesson. If she does not have the time to go over the observations suggested, before giving the lesson, she should take up the questions with the pupils as a joint investigation, and be boon companion in discover

The story should not be read to the pupils. It is given as an assistance to the teacher, and is not meant for direct information to the pupils. If the teacher knows a fact in nature's realm, she is then in a position to lead her pupils to discover this fact for themselves.

Make the lesson an investigation and make the pupils feel that they are investigators. To tell the story to begin with, inevitably spoils this attitude and quenches interest.

The "leading thought" embodies some of the points which should be in the teacher's mind while giving the lesson; it should not be read or declared to the pupils.

The outlines for observations herein given, by no means cover all of the observations possible; they are meant to suggest to the teacher observations of her own, rather than to be followed slavishly.

The suggestions for observations have been given in the form of questions, merely for the sake of saving space. The direct questioning method, if not employed with discretion, becomes tiresome to both pupil and teacher. If the questions do not inspire the child to investigate, they are useless. To grind out answers to questions about any natural object is not nature-study, it is simply "grind," a form of mental activity which is of much greater use when applied to spelling or the multiplication table than to the study of nature. The best teacher will cover the points suggested for observations with few direct questions. To those who find the questions inadequate I will say that, although I have used these outlines once, I am sure I should never be able to use them again without making changes.

The topics chosen for these lessons may not be the most practical nor the most interesting nor the most enlightening that are to be found; they are simply those subjects which I have used in my classes, because we happened to find them at hand the mornings the lessons were given.

While an earnest attempt has been made to make the information in this book accurate, it is to be expected and to be hoped that many discrepancies will be found by those who follow the lessons. No two animals or plants are just alike, and no two people see things exactly the same way. The chief aim of this volume is to encourage investigation rather than to give information. Therefore, if mistakes are found, the object of the book will have been accomplished, and the author will feel deeply gratified. If the teacher finds that the observations made by her and her pupils, do not agree with the statements in the book, I earnestly enjoin upon her to trust to her own eyes rather than to any book.

No teacher is expected to teach all the lessons in this book. A wide range of subjects is given, so that congenial choice may be made.

PART II.

ANIMAL LIFE

I. BIRD STUDY

HE reason for studying any bird is to ascertain what it does; in order to accomplish this, it is necessary to know what the bird is, learning what it is, being simply a step that leads to a knowledge of what it does. But, to hear some of our bird devotees talk, one would think that to be able to identify a bird is all of bird study. On the contrary, the identification of birds is simply the alphabet to the real study, the alphabet by means of which we may spell out the life habits of the bird. To know these habits is the ambition of the true ornithologist, and should likewise be the ambition of the beginner, even though the beginner be a young child.

Several of the most common birds have been selected as subjects for lessons in this book; other common birds, like the phobe and wrens, have been omitted purposely; after the children have studied the birds, as indicated in the lessons, they will enjoy working out lessons for themselves with other birds. Naturally, the sequence of these lessons does not follow scientific classification; in the first ten lessons, an attempt has been made to lead the child gradually into a knowledge of bird life. Beginning with the chicken there follow naturally the lessons with pigeons and the canary; then there follows the careful and detailed study of the robins and constant comparison of them with the blue birds. This is enough for the first year in the primary grades. The next year the work begins with the birds that remain in the North during the winter, the chickadee, nuthatch and downy woodpecker. After these have been studied carefully, the teacher may be an opportunist when spring comes and select any of the lessons when the bird subjects are at hand. The classification suggested for the woodpeckers and the swallows is for more advanced pupils, as are the lessons on the geese and turkeys. It is to be hoped that these lessons will lead the child directly to the use of the bird manuals, of which there are several excellent ones.

BEGINNING BIRD STUDY IN THE PRIMARY GRADES

The hen is especially adapted as an object lesson for the young beginner of bird study. First of all, she is a bird, notwithstanding the adverse opinions of two of my small pupils who stoutly maintained that "a robin is a bird, but a hen is a hen." Moreover, the hen is a bird always available for nature-study; she looks askance at us from the crates of the world's marts; she comes to meet us in the country barnyard, stepping toward us sedately; looking at us earnestly, with one eye, then turning her

head so as to check up her observations with the other; meantime she asks us a little question in a wheedling, soft tone, which we understand perfectly to mean "have you perchance brought me something to eat?" Not only is the hen an interesting bird in herself, but she is a bird with problems; and by studying her carefully we may be introduced into the very heart and center of bird life.

This lesson may be presented in two ways: First, if the pupils live in the country where they have poultry at home, the whole series of lessons may best be accomplished through interested talks on the part of the teacher, which should be followed on the part of the children, by observations, which should be made at home and the results given in school in oral or written lessons. Second, if the pupils are not familiar with fowls, a hen and a chick, if possible, should be kept in a cage in the schoolroom for a few days, and a duck or gosling should be brought in one day for observation. The crates in which fowls are sent to market make very good cages. One of the teachers of the Elmira, N. Y. Schools introduced into the basement of the schoolhouse a hen, which there hatched her brood of chicks, much to the children's delight and edification. After the pupils have become thoroughly interested in the hen and are familiar with her ways, after they have fed her and watched her, and have for her a sense of ownership, the following lessons may be given in an informal manner, as if they were naturally suggested to the teacher's mind through watching the fowl.

FEATHERS AS CLOTHING

Teacher's Story

HE bird's clothing affords a natural beginning for bird study because the wearing of feathers is a most striking character distinguishing birds from other creatures; also, feathers and flying are the first things the young child notices about birds.

The purpose of all of these lessons on the hen are: (a) To induce the child to make continued and sympathetic observations on the habits of the domestic birds. (b) To cause him involuntarily to compare the domestic with the wild birds. (c) To induce him to think for himself why the shape of the body, wings, head, beak, feet, legs and feathers are adapted in each species to protect the bird and assist it in getting its living.

The overlapping of the feathers on a hen's back and breast is a pretty illustration of nature's method of shingling, so that the rain, finding no place to enter, drips off, leaving the bird's underclothing quite dry. It is interesting to note how a hen behaves in the rain; she droops her tail and holds herself so that the water finds upon her no resting place, but simply a steep surface down which to flow to the ground.

Each feather consists of three parts, the shaft or quill, which is the central stiff stem of the feather, giving it strength. From this quill come off the barbs which, toward the outer end, join together in a smooth web, making the thin, fan-like portion of the feather; at the base is the fluff, which is soft and downy and near to the body of the fowl. The teacher should put on the blackboard this figure so that incidentally the pupils may learn the parts of a feather and their structure. If a microscope is available, show both the web

and the fluff of a feather under a three-fourths objective. The feathers on the back of a hen are longer and narrower in proportion than those on the breast and are especially fitted to protect the back from rain; the breast feathers are shorter and have more of the fluff, thus protecting the breast from the cold as well as the rain. It is plain to any child that the soft fluff is comparable to our woolen underclothing while the smooth, overlapping web forms a rain and wind-proof outer coat. Down is a feather with no quill; young chicks are covered with down. A pin-feather is simply a young feather rolled up in a sheath, which bursts later and is shed, leaving the feather free to assume its form. Take a large pin-feather and cut the sheath open and show the pupils the young feather lying within.

When a hen oils her feathers it is a process well worth observing. The oil gland is on her back just at the base of the tail feathers; she squeezes the gland with her beak to get the oil and then rubs the beak over the surface of her feathers and passes them through it; she spends more time oiling the feathers on her back and breast than those on the other parts, so that they will surely shed water. Country people say when the hen oils her feathers, it is a sure sign of rain. The hen sheds her feathers once a year and is a most untidy looking bird meanwhile, a fact that she seems to realize, and is as shy and cross as a young lady caught in company in curl papers; but she seems very pleased with herself when she finally gains her new feathers.

Feathers of a rooster, showing their relative size, shape and position

1, neck hackle; 2, breast; 3, wing shoulder covert; 4, wing flight covert; 5, wing primary; 6, wing secondary: 7, wing covert; 8, back; 9, tail covert; 10, 'main tail; 11, fluff; 12, thigh; 13, saddle hackle; 14, the sickle or feather of beauty; 15, lesser sickle. Prof. J. E. Rice in Rural School Leaflet.