Produced by Bryan Ness, Sankar Viswanathan, and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by the Library of Congress)
BIRD DAY
HOW TO PREPARE FOR IT
BY
CHARLES A. BABCOCK, A.M., LL.B.
_Superintendent of Schools, Oil City, Pennsylvania_
SILVER, BURDETT AND COMPANY
NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO
COPYRIGHT, 1901,
BY SILVER, BURDETT AND COMPANY
* * * * *
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED
TO THE LOVERS OF CHILDREN
AND OF BIRDS
* * * * *
AUTHOR'S NOTE
The aim of this book is to assist school children in the accurate
study of a few birds. It is believed that if this be attained, further
study of birds will take care of itself.
Thanks are due the Audubon Society, ornithologists, educators, and
legislators, for the generous approbation and assistance which they
have given the Bird Day movement.
Special thanks are due the Department of Agriculture for permission to
use the illustrations in this volume. Those on pages 65, 67, 69, 71,
73, 75, 77, 79, 85, 87, 89, 93, and 95 are printed from electrotypes
from the original illustrations appearing in "Farmer's Bulletin," No.
54. Those on pages 81 and 83 are from the Yearbook of the Department
for 1899, and that on page 91 from the Yearbook for 1898. All these
publications are issued by the Department.
CONTENTS
I. HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT FOR "BIRD DAY"
II. THE VALUE OF BIRDS
III. THE DESTRUCTION OF BIRDS
IV. PLAN OF STUDY
V. FURTHER SUGGESTIONS
VI. DIRECTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK
VII. PROGRAMS FOR BIRD DAY
VIII. THE POETS AND THE BIRDS
IX. OBJECTS AND RESULTS OF BIRD DAY
X. SOME REPRESENTATIVE BIRDS
* * * * *
PART I
BIRD DAY. HOW TO PREPARE FOR IT
* * * * *
BIRD DAY
HOW TO PREPARE FOR IT
I
HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT FOR "BIRD DAY"
In the spring of 1894 the writer's attention was attracted to the
interest of the children in that part of their nature study which
related to birds. Their descriptions of the appearance and habits of
the birds they had observed were given with evident pleasure. They had
a strong desire to tell what they had seen, not in the spirit of
rivalry, but with the wish of adding to the knowledge of a subject in
which all were equally interested.
It was thought that this work would be done with even more
effectiveness if a day were appointed to be celebrated as "Bird Day."
With the hope of making a memorable occasion of the day for those
taking part in it, several of the noted friends of birds were asked to
write something to the children, and to give their opinion of the
introduction of "Bird Day" into the schools.
Secretary J. Sterling Morton, the father of "Arbor Day," responded
with the following earnest letter, which was at once given to the
public through Washington dispatches, and later was sent out from the
Department of Agriculture, in circular No. 17:--
WASHINGTON, D. C., April 23, 1894.
MR. C. A. BABCOCK, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, OIL CITY, PA.
_Dear Sir_,--Your proposition to establish a "Bird Day" on
the same general plan as "Arbor Day," has my cordial
approval.
Such a movement can hardly fail to promote the development
of a healthy public sentiment toward our native birds,
favoring their preservation and increase. If directed toward
this end, and not to the encouragement of the importation of
foreign species, it is sure to meet the approval of the
American people.
It is a melancholy fact that among the enemies of our birds
two of the most destructive and relentless are our women and
our boys. The love of feather ornamentation so heartlessly
persisted in by thousands of women, and the mania for
collecting eggs and killing birds so deeply rooted in our
boys, are legacies of barbarism inherited from our savage
ancestry. The number of beautiful and useful birds annually
slaughtered for bonnet trimmings runs up into the hundreds
of thousands, and threatens, if it has not already
accomplished, the extermination of some of the rarer
species. The insidious egg-hunting and pea-shooting
proclivities of the small boy are hardly less widespread and
destructive. It matters little which of the two agencies is
the more fatal, since neither is productive of any good. One
looks to the gratification of a shallow vanity, the other to
the gratification of a cruel instinct and an expenditure of
boyish energy that might be profitably diverted into other
channels. The evil is one against which legislation can be
only palliative and of local efficiency. Public sentiment,
on the other hand, if properly fostered in the schools,
would gain force with the growth and development of our boys
and girls, and would become a hundredfold more potent than
any law enacted by the State or Congress. I believe such a
sentiment can be developed, so strong and so universal that
a respectable woman will be ashamed to be seen with the wing
of a wild bird on her bonnet, and an honest boy will be
ashamed to own that he ever robbed a nest or wantonly took
the life of a bird.
Birds are of inestimable value to mankind. Without their
unremitting services our gardens and fields would be laid
waste by insect pests. But we owe them a greater debt even
than this, for the study of birds tends to develop some of
the best attributes and impulses of our natures. Among them
we find examples of generosity, unselfish devotion, of the
love of mother for offspring, and other estimable qualities.
Their industry, patience, and ingenuity excite our
admiration; their songs inspire us with a love of music and
poetry; their beautiful plumages and graceful manners appeal
to our aesthetic sense; their long migrations to distant
lands stimulate our imaginations and tempt us to inquire
into the causes of these periodic movements; and finally,
the endless modifications of form and habits by which they
are enabled to live under most diverse conditions of food
and climate--on land and at sea--invite the student of
nature into inexhaustible fields of pleasurable research.
The cause of bird protection is one that appeals to the best
side of our natures. Let us yield to the appeal. Let us have
a Bird Day--a day set apart from all the other days of the
year to tell the children about the birds. But we must not
stop here. We should strive continually to develop and
intensify the sentiment of bird protection, not alone for
the sake of preserving the birds, but also for the sake of
replacing as far as possible the barbaric impulses inherent
in child nature by the nobler impulses and aspirations that
should characterize advanced civilization.
Respectfully,
J. STERLING MORTON,
_Secretary of Agriculture._
Other friends of the birds responded cordially to the request, as will
be seen by the following letters:--
WEST PARK, N. Y., April 22, 1894.
_Dear Sir_,--In response to yours of the seventeenth, I
enclose a few notes about birds to be read upon your "Bird
Day"--just an item or two to stimulate the curiosity of the
young people. The idea is a good one, and I hope you may
succeed in starting a movement that may extend to all the
schools of the country.
Very truly yours,
JOHN BURROUGHS.
628 HANCOCK STREET, BROOKLYN, N. Y., April 25, 1894.
MR. C. A. BABCOCK.
_Dear Sir_,--Yours of the nineteenth is received. I am
delighted to know that your school children are to have a
"Bird Day." I wish I could be there to tell them something
of the delight of getting acquainted with their little
brothers in feathers; how much more interesting they are
when alive and doing all sorts of quaint and charming things
than when dead and made into "skins" or stuffed; and how
much greater is the pleasure of watching them to see how
they live, where they get their dinner, how they take care
of themselves, than of killing them, or hurting them, or
even just driving them away. If the boys and girls only try
keeping still and watching birds to see what they will do, I
am sure no boy will ever again want to throw a stone at one,
and no girl ever to have a dead bird on her hat.
Very truly yours,
OLIVE THORNE MILLER.
CLINTON, April 30, 1894.
_My Dear Sir_,--It strikes me that your idea is a
particularly happy one. Should you institute a "Bird Day,"
the feathered tribe ought to furnish music for the occasion.
A chorus of robins and thrushes and a few other songsters
would be more appropriate than an orchestra. With thanks for
your cordial good wishes, I am,
Yours faithfully,
CLINTON SCOLLARD.
From the Department of Public Instruction of Pennsylvania this
encouraging letter was received:--
HARRISBURG, April 27, 1894.
SUPERINTENDENT C. A. BABCOCK.
_Dear Sir_,--In your plan to inaugurate a "Bird Day" you
have struck a capital idea. When in the name of agriculture
a scalp act can be passed resulting in a year and a half in
the payment of $75,000 by the county treasuries of
Pennsylvania for the destruction of birds that were
subsequently proved to belong to the feathered friends of
the farmer, it is high time to make our pupils acquainted
with the habits and ways of the feathered tribes. Some birds
remain with us the whole year, others are summer sojourners,
still others are only transient visitors. How much of the
beauty of our environment is lost by those who never listen
to the music of the birds and never see the richness of
their plumage!
May success attend you in carrying out your new idea of a
"Bird Day."
Very truly yours,
NATHAN C. SCHAEFFER,
_Superintendent of Public Instruction_.
Bradford Torrey gives an additional title to the day, showing his
appreciation of it:--
WELLESLEY HILLS, MASS., April 21, 1894.
_Dear Mr. Babcock_,--Your young people are to be
congratulated. "Bird Day" is something new to me--a new
saints' day in my calendar, so to speak. The thought is so
pleasing to me that I wish you had given me its date, so
that in spirit I might observe it with you. Tell your pupils
that to cultivate an acquaintance with things out of
doors--flowers, trees, rocks, but especially animate
creatures, and best of all, birds--is one of the surest ways
of laying up happiness for themselves; and laying up
happiness is even better than laying up money, though I am
so old-fashioned a body and so true a Yankee as to believe
in that also.
All the naturalists I have known have been men of sunny
temper. Let your boys and girls cultivate their eyes and
ears, and their hearts and minds as well, by the study of
living birds, their comings and goings, their songs and
their ways; let them learn to find out things for
themselves; to know the difference between guess-work and
knowledge; and they will thank you as long as they live for
having encouraged them in so good a cause. With all good
wishes for the success of your first "Bird Day"--and many to
come after it,
Very truly yours,
BRADFORD TORREY.
The first observance of "Bird Day," May 4, 1894, is briefly set forth
in the following paragraph from the _New England Journal of
Education_:--
The day was observed in the Oil City schools with a degree
of enthusiasm which was good to see. The amount of
information about birds that was collected by the children
was simply amazing. Original compositions were read,
informal discussions were held, talks by teachers were
given, and the birds in literature were not forgotten or
overlooked. The interest was not confined to the children,
one gentleman surprising the classes in which his children
celebrated the day by presenting to them artistic programs
of the exercises.
It seems to those interested that the idea simply needs to
be made known to meet with a warm welcome, akin to that with
which we greet our first robin or song sparrow in the
spring.
II
THE VALUE OF BIRDS
Probably few people understand the value of birds or comprehend how
closely and yet how extensively their lives are interwoven with other
forms of life. The general sentiment in regard to them, at the best,
has been that they are harmless, even interesting and beautiful
creatures; but the idea that they are one of the most important
classes of creation, a class upon which the existence of many other
classes depends, has never been widely prevalent. Suppose we were
asked which is of more use to man, the fishes of our waters or the
birds of our forests and fields? Many of us would unhesitatingly
answer in favor of the fishes.
If all of these denizens of the rivers, lakes, and seas should be
destroyed, it would be a stupendous calamity. Mankind would
universally deplore it; and if the nations of the world should, at any
time, become convinced that such a thing might occur, how quickly they
would take all possible means to prevent it! All civilized people now
have laws to preserve this food supply and are making expensive and
laborious efforts to increase it. Any one who should destroy thousands
of tons of these edible swimmers, simply for their heads and tails, or
fins and scales, would be regarded as a dangerous person. But if our
supposition were realized, if every fin and gill were to disappear
from the waters of the globe, what would be the result? A misfortune,
truly, for the fins represent a large part of the world's supply of
food, and this loss would be felt more deeply as time went on, because
the ocean will not raise its rent, however crowded may be the
population of its shores. The effort to secure the fish might be
applied, however, in other directions and be equally remunerative.
Harvest would still follow seedtime; the gold of autumn still reward
the shallow mines of spring.
But suppose we were forced to the dreadful alternative of choosing
between the birds and the quadrupeds, again, the most of us would
probably decide against the birds. If the four-footed beasts should
disappear from the earth, it would be a much greater disaster than the
destruction of the fishes. A much larger fraction of the food supply
would be lost; while many of these animals contribute to man's comfort
and necessities in almost innumerable ways. Most nations have learned
to cherish their friends with hoofs and horns, and even some of those
with claws. Cruelty to animals is now generally forbidden by law; and
their wanton destruction would be regarded with horror. No one would
be permitted to slaughter large numbers of them because he might wish
to sell their horns or ears or the tips of their tails.
By the departure of the quadrupeds the life of man would be rendered
much more difficult, but would still be possible. From fish and fowl
he could obtain a supply of meat limited in variety, yet sufficient
for his needs. The treasures of the vegetable world would still be
his, though he would miss the help of his animal allies in securing
them; but his ingenuity would help him to supply this loss, in part,
at least.
Consider now what would be the effect of the total destruction of
birds. Birds are nature's check to the amazing power of insects to
increase. If insect life were allowed free course, it would soon
overpower vegetation; and plant life--and, therefore, animal life,
including that of man--would be impossible upon this globe. This is an
astounding conclusion, but it is sustained by the judgment of every
man of science who has investigated the subject. How long could the
ravages of insects be stayed were the birds gone? We should have to
depend upon a few predaceous beetles, the bats, and upon the sprayers
and squirtguns which throw insecticides. Think of the aesthetic loss in
substituting these agencies for the "sweet spirits" of the wood and
field! Besides not being musical or charming in action, they would
not prove efficient. Birds are therefore essential to the life of man.
Their preservation is not merely a matter of sentiment, or of
education in that high and fine feeling, kindness to all living
things. It has a utilitarian side of vast extent, as broad as our
boundless fields and our orchards' sweep. The birds are nature's
guarantee that the reign of the crawlers and spinners shall not become
universal. The "plague of locusts" shall be upon those who sin against
them.
III
THE DESTRUCTION OF BIRDS
From almost all sections of the country comes the plaint that the song
birds are fast disappearing. Less and less numerous are the yearly
visitations of the thrushes, warblers, song sparrows, orioles, and the
others whose habits have been so delightful and whose music has been
so cheering to their open-eyed and open-hearted friends. Many, who
when listening to the hymn-like cadences of the wood thrush have felt
that the place was holy ground, are now keenly regretting that this
vesper song is so rare; the honest sweetness of the song sparrow
mingles with the coarser sounds less often in the accustomed places.
Not many now find "the meadows spattered all over with music" by the
bobolink, as Thoreau did.
John Burroughs says that the bluebird is almost extinct in his section
of country. The writer, though a frequent visitor to the fields and
woods, has succeeded in seeing only one pair of these beautiful birds
in two seasons, where they were abundant a few years ago, when almost
every orchard bore a good crop of them. A friend who is a good
observer has had the same experience. A careful exploration of the
country within a radius of five miles resulted in the discovery of
only two pairs of bobolinks, having their nests luckily in the same
field. The males sang together in friendly rivalry. The sparkling,
tinkling notes seemed to come in a rippling tumble, two or three at a
time, from each throat. Each started his song with his feet barely
touching his perch, his body quivering, his wings half extended, as if
he were almost supported by the upward flow of his melody. After
circular flights he alighted first upon one frail, swinging perch,
then upon another, the wonderful sounds not ceasing, as if he were
tracing magic rings of song round his home, and making them thick in
places. It was a musical embodiment of the love of life and of its
joyousness.
The brown thrush is also absent from places where once there were
many. A farmer in this neighborhood states that a few years ago the
treetops near his house seemed to be filled with these fine singers.
Now he hears only one or two during the season. Last May the writer
found three nests at least a mile apart, but they were destroyed
before the time of hatching, and the birds went about silent as if
brooding upon their trouble. It is doubtful if they will build next
season in that vicinity. No doubt the clearing away of the forests and
the settling up of the country are responsible for the scarcity of the
birds in part, but only in part. If they were let alone, many of the
most interesting and useful birds would build near even our city
homes, and our gardens and fields would again become populous with
them.
The wearing of feathers and the skins of birds for ornament is the
chief cause of the final flight of many of our songsters. It is stated
that a London dealer received at one time more than thirty thousand
dead humming birds. Not only brightly colored birds, but any small
birds, by means of dyes, may come at last to such base uses. It is
estimated by some of the Audubon societies that ten million birds were
used in this country in one season. All these bodies, which are used
to make "beauty much more beauteous seem," are steeped in arsenical
solutions to prevent their becoming as offensive to the nostrils of
their wearers as they are to the eyes of bird lovers.
The use of dead birds for adornment is a constant object lesson in
cruelty, a declaration louder than any words that a bird's life is not
to be respected. It is currently reported that a million bobolinks
were destroyed in Pennsylvania alone last year to satisfy the demand
of the milliners. If this "garniture of death" is in good taste, then
our North American Indian in his war paint and feathers was far ahead
of his time.
Let us hope that some oracle of fashion will decree that if the
remains of animals must be used for adornment, the skins of mice and
rats shall be offered up. Their office seems to be principally that of
scavengers, and their gradual but certain extinction would not matter
if the Christian nations should become, _pari passu_, more cleanly.
The squirrel could also be used effectively, mounted as if half
flying, with his hind feet fastened to the velvet pedestal, or sitting
upon his haunches with a nut between his fore paws. The squirrel's
main concern seems to be to prevent the undue extension of the
nut-bearing trees--an office man has already well taken upon
himself--and besides, he destroys fruit, injures trees, and is a great
enemy of birds. His gradual extinction would be tolerated by a
civilized nation.
All these things may take the hues of the rainbow and are capable of
infinite variety of arrangement. There certainly seems to be no good
reason why in a few years some combination of them may not be
considered as effective as a row of dead humming birds. The world may
be saved in this way from presenting a spectacle that should excite
the pity of gods and men--the spectacle of the destruction of one of
the most beautiful, the most harmless, and the most useful classes of
creation, at the command of the senseless whims of fashion.
Then, too, the sportsmen's guns and the small boys' slings and
shooters of various sorts are constantly bringing down numbers of the
feathered songsters. In many parts of our country men and boys roam
the fields, shooting at every bird they see, and their action is
tacitly approved by the community. This survival of the barbarous
instinct to kill is condoned as "sport." If these people were to spend
this time in following the birds with opera glass and notebook to
study them, they might not be so readily understood--they might even
be taken for mild lunatics, so utterly is public sentiment perverted
on this subject.
A little consideration shows this destruction to be more disastrous
than at first appears. According to the latest biological science,
every species of animals must have long ago reached the limit beyond
which it could not greatly increase its numbers. However great its
tendency to increase might be, its natural obstacles and enemies
would increase in like proportions till at last the two would balance
each other, and there could be no further increase in the number of
individuals of that species. All classes of animals in a state of
nature must have reached this balanced condition generations ago. This
is true of the birds. Their natural enemies are capable of preventing
their increase; that is, they can and do destroy every year as many as
are hatched that year. Now if man be added as a new destructive
agency, the old enemies, being still able to destroy as many as
before, will soon sweep them out of existence. Warnings have been sent
out by the United States Department of Biology that several species of
birds are already close to extinction. We know that this is true of
the passenger pigeon. This bird used to come North in flocks so
extensive as sometimes to obscure the sun, like a large, thick cloud.
Now they come no more. Italy is practically songless, we are told.
If man would right the wrong that he has done, he must not only stop
destroying the birds, but he must take all possible means to preserve
them and to protect them from their natural foes.
Laws for bird protection have been passed in many of our states; but
these have been found effective only where they were not needed. They
are, however, right, and will help in the development of correct
sentiment. What is most needed is knowledge of the birds themselves,
their modes of life, their curious ways, and their relations to the
scheme of things. To know a bird is to love him. Birds are beautiful
and interesting objects of study, and make appeals to children that
are responded to with delight.
Children love intensely the forms of nature--the clouds, the trees,
the flowers, the animals--all of the great beautiful world outside of
themselves, and it is their impulse to become acquainted with this
world; for this they feel enthusiasm and love. Marjorie Fleming, the
little playmate of Scott, who at the age of six could recite passages
from Shakespeare and Burns so that the great bard would sob like a
child or shout with laughter, may be taken as the universal voice of
childhood. She writes in her diary, "I am going to a delightful place
where there is ducks, cocks, hens, bubblejacks, two dogs, two cats and
swine which is delightful." In another place she says, "Braehead is
extremely pleasant to me by the company of swine, geese, cocks, etc.,
and they are the delight of my soul."
The waste of time in our public schools has been commented upon and
some of the causes have been pointed out; but is not the chief reason
the fact that much of the work of the school is unrelated to the world
of the child? At least the child does not see the connection. He
leaves at the threshold the things which he loves and desires
intensely to investigate, and begins his intellectual development with
abstractions, with "the three R's." It is said that teachers cannot
succeed unless they love their work. How can we expect children to
succeed and not waste time, not become disheartened at work that, so
far as they can discover, has little more relation to their interests
than to the mountains of the moon?
We look to nature study to supply the missing links between the
child's life and his school work; to afford opportunities for the
interested observation of things, and to furnish a strong impulse
toward expression. It has been well said that the best result of the
primary schools is the power to use correctly one's own language. The
chief obstacle in the development of this power is the want of an
impulse to express. What can afford a stronger tendency to describe
than the attempt to report observations that have been made with
interest, even with delight?
IV
PLAN OF STUDY
Begin as soon after the first of January as possible. Assign two
periods a week of from ten to twenty minutes each for bird study in
the school. Continue the work during these periods until after the
celebration of Bird Day in May.
If no other bird is to be found, the English sparrow will answer.
Place the following questions upon the blackboard:--
THE ENGLISH SPARROW
How long is this bird from the tip of its beak to the end of
its tail?
What is the color of its head? Of its throat? Of its breast?
Of the underparts of its body? Of its back? Of its wings?
What is the length, shape, and color of its bill?
What is the color of its legs and feet? How many toes upon
each foot, and which way do they point? Does it walk, hop,
or run upon the ground? Is its tail square, or notched? Is
its flight even and steady, or bounding? What is the
difference in appearance between the male and female?
The children should be directed to answer these questions from their
own observation, at the next period of study. For the lowest grades
two or three questions will be enough for the first attempt, and even
then the variety of answers will be surprising.
No other questions should be taken until the first are answered
correctly.
The teacher should have an opera glass or a small field glass with
which to make her own observations. It is obvious that the more
glasses there are among the children, the better. It is advisable for
the teacher to make short excursions with the children to the streets
to assist them in answering these questions. These can be made at the
close of school. As a preparation, have some crumbs or seeds scattered
where the birds have been seen.
Continue work with these questions until each one can give a
reasonably accurate description of the appearance of the bird and of
its movements. Have the older pupils write this. It will make a good
language lesson.
The next questions should have reference to the life and
characteristics of the bird. What does it eat? Put out crumbs or
scraps of meat and see if the bird will eat them. What sounds does the
bird make? Does it sing? Imitate as many of its sounds as you can.
Determine from its actions what its disposition is. For example--Is it
courageous? Is it quarrelsome? Is it inclined to fight? Is it selfish?
Frequently a single incident in a bird's life will furnish an answer
to several of these questions. Two sparrows were seen attempting to
take possession of the same straw. Each held firmly to his end of the
straw. A regular tug of war ensued. They pulled one another about for
some time on the top of an awning, and finally, becoming tired of
this, they dropped the straw and furiously attacked each other. They
fought with beak and claw, paying no attention to the spectators, and
fell exhausted to the sidewalk, where they lay upon their backs until
able to hop slowly away from each other. It was some little time
before they recovered strength to fly in opposite directions,
conquering and unconquered.
Early in March advise the children to watch the direction of the
sparrows' flight. They will discover that some of them are carrying
straws or feathers or other material for nest building. Notice the
position and style of these nests. Those built early in the season are
always in protected places, under the eaves of houses or in holes in
trees or in bird boxes. Some of those built later are in exposed
places, clumsy affairs, but well thatched with straw, having an
entrance on one side. This nest building may be watched during the
entire season, for the English sparrow raises more broods than any
other of our birds.
The interpretation of the actions which indicate any of a bird's
characteristics is a valuable part of the study on account of its
exercise of the imagination and the reason.
A plan similar to the foregoing should be followed with each bird that
is studied. With almost all other birds the study will be far more
interesting. The English sparrow may be considered as the A B C of
birds in his appearance and in the kind of life he leads. He is
therefore a good subject to begin with. But even he will be found to
exhibit unexpected individuality.
After a few days of this study, or at least before the spring birds
begin to arrive, direct the children to try the following experiments.
Scatter crumbs where they may be seen from the windows. Nail cups in
the trees containing sugar and water, and others containing seeds.
Nail up a bone or two, and a piece of suet as large as your two hands.
This last will be relished by the birds, for it provides the kind of
food most needed in cold weather.
Watch carefully the birds that are attracted by the food. After
feeding awhile they will become quite tame and may be closely
approached. Write a description of each bird upon the plan used for
the English sparrow. Encourage the children to add any observations of
their own which throw light upon the habits and character of the
birds, since one object of this study is the development of right
feeling toward them.
Among the first to arrive will probably be the blue jay, chickadee, or
black-capped titmouse, and one or more of the woodpeckers. These all
show individual character and are well worth studying.
The blue jay by his striking appearance and outlandish voice
challenges attention. He will be found to possess some gentlemanly
traits. To illustrate, a number of blue jays were seen taking turns,
waiting in line, to feed upon a bone where there was room for only
one at a time. There was no scramble, no hurrying of the one who was
eating. The blue jay is a most devoted parent, though not considered a
good citizen by other birds. Contrary to the usual belief, he has a
beautiful song. It is sweet and low and almost as varied as the
catbird's, and can be heard only a short distance. It has a
reminiscent character, as if he were thinking of past joys.
The black-capped titmouse or the chickadee is noticeable for his
sprightliness and cheeriness, and for his trim, tailor-made
appearance. Emerson's poem worthily celebrates his brave spirit. He
flits around a limb and clings to it with his head up or down, with
his feet up or down, as if his movements were not physical exertions,
but mental efforts. His simple little song rings out at all hours of
the coldest day.
The woodpecker gives himself freely to study. One winter we frequently
counted from twelve to fourteen children standing under the tree on
which a little sapsucker was at work. The upturned faces of the
children did not disturb him at all, although he was only a little
above their heads. He drilled away as if his work in the world was the
work which must be done. A downy woodpecker with a slightly wounded
wing was brought into one of our schoolrooms, where he lived
contentedly for several days, pecking a dead treetop, which the boys
brought in for him after a good deal of thought and several
excursions. The only food he seemed to like was sweetened water,
although the children brought him a great variety to choose from. No
visitor to a schoolroom ever produced a better effect. His presence,
instead of interfering with the regular order, pleased the children,
and they did their work even better than usual. When his wing was
healed he was dismissed from school through the window, and his flight
to a neighboring treetop was anxiously watched.
Upon many other occasions wounded birds have been brought into our
schools. Some recovered and others died, but each visit was an epoch
in the life of the school.
The other birds most likely to visit this feast during January are the
flicker, crow, purple finch, song sparrow, white-breasted nuthatch,
snow-flake; American crossbill, white-throated sparrow, tree sparrow,
junco, winter wren, golden-crowned kinglet, brown creeper, and even
the solitary robin. The sparrow hawk and the sharp-shinned hawk may
visit the vicinity to feed upon the other feeders. On the first of
January I saw a sparrow hawk sitting on the spire of a church in the
heart of a city of eighteen thousand people. After selecting a victim
from the sparrows on the street below, he calmly spread his wings and
pounced upon him, or with no effort at concealment chased the bird
whose flight was nearest.
A female sparrow hawk wintered in the eaves of an apartment house in
Morningside Park, New York City. English sparrow was its principal
diet, and every morning and afternoon an observer might have seen the
hawk soar to the park grounds on its hunting trips.
A few years ago a sharp-shinned hawk visited our yard. Apparently he
lived upon the sparrows there for several days. There was no skill in
his hunting or effort to take the game unawares. When he wanted a bird
he simply left his perch and captured it by speed of wing. His ease of
flight was remarkable; as a little boy said, "He just opened his wings
and sailed away." He stayed until the sparrows left the neighborhood.
As the season advances the birds will come in greater numbers. On the
first of April a little girl in one of our schools had identified and
described seventeen different species of birds which she had seen in
her yard. The same child fed a family of chipping sparrows; they
became so tame that they would come to meet her when she came with
crumbs, and would pick them up even when they dropped close to her
feet. The next year this family evidently came again and raised
another brood and brought them along to be fed, for seven and
sometimes eight would come when she called. The English sparrow came
also, and the little maid drove them away without the chippies being
disturbed. A boy from one of our schools was even more fortunate. In
his yard were a number of trees in which ample provision had been made
for the birds. Late in April, with other kinds a pair of scarlet
tanagers and a pair of rose-breasted grosbeaks visited the trees.
These stayed and soon seemed to feel quite at home. To the great
delight of their neighbors, the house-dwellers, they built their
nests, the grosbeaks in a tree near one side of the porch, the
tanagers in one near the opposite side. They became so friendly that
sometimes when the boy came out upon the porch and played softly on a
mouth organ, the grosbeak's silvery warble and the tanager's loud,
clear voice joined him.
Brief written descriptions should be made by the pupils, similar to
the following:--
BLUEBIRD.--Length, six and a half inches; extent of wings,
about twelve inches; color, back, azure blue; throat,
breast, and sides, dull crimson; underpart, white; bill and
legs, blackish; eye, brown; arrives early in March; leaves
in late November. Song, soft and pleasing warble; sings both
in flight and at rest; nests in holes of trees or posts, or
in bird houses.
CHICKADEE.--Length, about five and a half inches; extent of
wings, about eight inches; legs, bluish gray; bill, black;
back, brownish gray; throat, chin, and top of head, black;
sides of head, white; underparts, whitish; wing and tail
feathers margined with white; nests in holes in trees and
stumps. The common name arises from their familiar note of
"chic-a-dee-dee."
CATBIRD.--Length, nine inches; extent of wings, eleven and a
half inches; bill and feet, black; eye, brown; color, slate
color, somewhat lighter beneath; top of head and tail,
black; reddish under the wings; arrives in May, leaves in
October; nests in bushes; lives in gardens and woodside
thickets; has a sharp cry not unlike the mewing of a cat,
but is a gifted songster.
MEADOW LARK.--Length, about ten and a half inches; extent of
wings, about sixteen and a half inches; female is smaller;
body, thick and stout; legs, large; hind toe reaches out
beyond the tail, its claw twice as long as the middle one;
bill, brown, lighter at the base, dark towards the point;
feet and legs, light brown; throat, breast, and edge of
wing, bright yellow; breast with a large black crescent;
nests on the ground in the open field; clumsy in flight and
in walking; song, a plaintive whistle; arrives in March,
leaves in October.
BARN SWALLOW.--Length, six and three fourths inches; spread
of wings, twelve and a half inches; bill, black; legs and
feet, light brown; color, upper parts glossy steel blue;
tail, very deeply forked, outer tail feathers much longer
and narrower than the others; forehead, chin, and throat,
deep chestnut; rest of the underparts lighter; nests usually
in barns.
WOOD THRUSH.--Length, eight inches; spread of wings,
thirteen inches; legs and feet, flesh-colored; bill,
blackish, lighter at base; upper parts cinnamon brown,
brightest on top of the head, and shading into olive near
the tail; lower parts white and marked with roundish, dusky
spots; arrives the first of May, leaves in October. Song
consists of sweet, ringing, bell-like notes.
Later these outlines should be expanded into free descriptions,
containing all that the pupil has learned about the bird, his habits,
his character, and his life.
Each school should aim to possess a bird manual, for the
identification of the species. The following are recommended as
sufficient for the purpose: "Birds of the United States," by A. C.
Apgar; "Birds of Eastern North America," by Frank M. Chapman; "Bird
Craft," by Mabel Osgood Wright; "Birds of Pennsylvania," second
edition, by Warren (this may possibly be obtained at second-hand
bookstores); "Our Common Birds and How to Know Them," by Grant. The
report of your own state upon birds, if there is one, will also
furnish valuable information.
V
FURTHER SUGGESTIONS
Direct the children to put up boxes for martins, bluebirds, and wrens.
These may be also put up around the schoolhouses, if fortunately there
is a yard with trees. Boxes for the martins should be large,
containing fifteen or more compartments, each ten inches high by eight
wide and eight deep, and each having a separate entrance. The martin
box or house should be placed twenty feet from the ground, upon the
top of a strong post or platform sustained by four smaller posts. If
vines are planted at the foot of the supports, they will be ornamental
and will make the houses more attractive to the birds. The English
sparrows will occupy these compartments; but if the martins conclude
to take possession they will push out the sparrows and their
belongings without assistance. Every spring I am amused in watching
the summary process of ejectment which the martins serve upon the
sparrows that have taken possession of their houses. In the morning
the sparrows may be in undisturbed possession, but by afternoon the
martins occupy their old quarters, having pushed out the nests of the
sparrows with their eggs or young.
The boxes for bluebirds and wrens should be smaller and have only one
compartment. They should be nailed in the tops of trees. If the
English sparrows build in them their nests should be broken up; and
this repeatedly, so long as they persist in building. If this is not
done the wrens and bluebirds will not come. They are incapable of
coping with the sparrows.
Note when the different birds arrive in the spring, making in this way
a bird calendar.
Notice also when the birds gather together into flocks in the late
summer or autumn, preparatory to taking their leave. The last bird of
his kind to leave should be as carefully noted as the first to arrive
in your calendar. Distinguish carefully the birds of passage that stop
only a short time to rest on their journeys north and south, and those
that stay and help to make the summer.
You will need to make frequent excursions afield, always taking your
notebook. Take first a small area and master the birds in that; then
gradually extend your territory. You can take no more healthful or
happy exercise. It will greatly increase the interest of children in
all their school duties if their teachers make occasional bird
journeys with them. Limit the size of the party to that number which
will keep still as a mouse while in bird-land. Encourage the children
also to make frequent excursions by themselves, in parties of three or
four. Instruct them to have the sun at their backs and to carry if
possible one glass with each party. Reports of these excursions can be
made in school, while particular attention should be given to the
exchange of the knowledge of bird haunts. This can be done during the
period devoted to bird study.
Direct the party of excursionists to observe the same birds, notebook
in hand, and let each one immediately put down what he actually sees.
Afterward compare results. In this way improvement will be made in
rapidity and accuracy of observing.
There are two ways by which birds may be closely approached. The first
is to go to some locality where birds have been seen and to stand or
sit in perfect quiet and wait for them to come. We have known some of
the shyest wood birds to come within a few feet of the motionless
observer. It is not an uncommon thing for one who waits to be able to
look directly into the eyes of the American redstart, the
chestnut-sided and golden-winged warbler, the wood thrush, catbird,
and of almost any other of the birds.
If one can imitate the owl and make a fair "hoot," otherwise keeping
still, he may attract many birds that will feel bound to settle the
question of his identity. A young friend of mine, by a good imitation
of a blue jay's quack, finds many little woods' folks peering at him
from the trees which he might not otherwise see. The "smack" which is
produced by violently kissing the back of the closed fingers will call
many birds from their hiding places, especially during the nesting
season. The sound is similar to that of a bird in distress.
The second method is to follow a bird very quietly and slowly, being
careful not to make any motions which would startle him. In this way a
shore lark has been followed all over a field, the observer gradually
coming near enough to the bird to see what he was doing, and to watch
his movements as he pulled the larvae of beetles out of the ground,
cracked their cases, and ate the contents. All birds that feed in the
fields, the meadow larks, the plovers, and the sparrows, may be
studied in the same way.
It is commonly thought to be difficult to get close to the veery. On
one occasion, while the writer and a companion were resting from a
long ramble, the air was suddenly suffused with the songs of veeries.
The music seemed to fill the woods, as an organ seems to fill the
church with sound. It was weird and suggestive and never to be
forgotten. The still, deep woods seemed like enchanted ground where
nothing evil could come. After some search we saw one of the birds in
a tree not far from us. As we approached him he flew to another tree.
We humbly followed on foot from tree to tree, when to our surprise he
stopped on a low tree on the outskirts of the wood and allowed us to
come almost within reach of him, and to stand wonder-stricken while he
sang in answer to his companions. We stayed for twenty minutes
motionless. It was difficult to believe that this bird was singing.
His notes had a ventriloquous effect, his beak was scarcely parted,
and it was only by the trembling of the feathers of his throat that we
were sure the song came from him. Since this time we have frequently
found the veeries; in fact one locality is known to us as Veeryville.
It is not necessary to live in the country in order to be a bird
student and to carry out the suggestions here given. All the large
cities have parks where birds may be observed and be encouraged to
become friendly to the observer. Central Park in New York is the home
of a great variety of birds. Bronx Park is said to be a paradise for
them. On Boston Common most of the birds which come to that latitude
have been seen. There is no city so poor that it cannot boast of a few
birds in its vicinity.
Great interest and delight may be added to the study of birds by the
use of the camera. If the teacher or one of the older pupils is so
fortunate as to have a kodak and will take it when visiting the woods,
or will focus it upon birds in the dooryard, the pictures may possess
much value. To attempt to "take" a bird in flight is, of course, a
difficult matter, though it may be done; but birds upon the nest,
birds feeding their young, or in the trees above the nest, evidently
protecting it, have been successfully taken. Birds' nests with the
eggs in make most fascinating pictures. At an entertainment given by
the Pennsylvania Audubon Society in Philadelphia in December, 1898,
the audience with one accord cheered the picture of a nest which was
thrown upon a screen.
Work of this kind is especially adapted for high schools, and there
are sure to be several painstaking amateurs among the pupils. To
possess genuine value from the point of view of the naturalist, the
pictures should not be touched up, no matter how much artistic beauty
might thus be given to them; they should be entirely true to nature.
On no account should children be encouraged to make collections of
birds or of eggs. The only objection the author has felt to the very
fine bird manuals before the public is that they contain minute
directions for the preparation of dead birds for purposes of mounting
and preservation, and also for the collection and preservation of
birds' eggs. If this were to cause the school children of the country
to set out to make collections of birds and of eggs in order to study
them, the study would better be omitted. Nothing more deadly than an
opera glass should be aimed at a bird for a generation. The utility
of a collection is not so great; a dead bird's plumage is not as
beautiful as in life, and he loses every attitude and movement which
makes him an individual. A corpse is not a bird. Persons who can
identify birds by one glimpse of them through the trees, or by a few
notes of their song, or by their flight are frequently at a loss to
identify the same birds when they are dead, unless they are familiar
with the dead birds.
The only collection the children should be encouraged to make is that
of nests after the birds are through with them; and especially of
nests with whose family history they are acquainted. These may be
brought into the schoolroom. In one of our school yards the children
discovered a pair of red-eyed vireos building. The nest was so
situated that it could be seen from one of the upper schoolroom
windows. After the young had left, the nest was taken down, and to the
pleasure which the children had enjoyed in watching its builders and
their family was added another. They found in the bottom of the nest
little bits of the papers they had used in school with their letters
and figures upon them.
VI
DIRECTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK