Bird-Lore Part 9

Miss Mc---- read your letter to the cla.s.s the other day, and we were very much interested in it. I like the Society, and every Friday in school we read a leaflet. The birds often come into the yard in summer, and we scatter crumbs.

We are making bird-boxes, and when the leaves come on the trees we are going to have shelves put up and put crumbs on them. It is nice to paint pictures of the birds and read about them.

In the summer out in the country the Canaries used to come and build their nests in the low bushes. I used to scatter crumbs for them, but they would rather have worms. The Kingfishers came early in the morning, so that we did not see much of them.--DOROTHY DAVIES.

[The members of the Apulia Junior Audubon Society are from eight to twelve years old. The School Department was very glad to receive pencil drawings made from the educational leaflets, together with the letters given above through the kindness of Mr. T. Gilbert Pierson. The way in which the leaflets are used by this society is excellent, and suggests a method practicable for all junior Audubon Societies.--A. H. W.]

=IV. RHODE ISLAND BOYS' AND GIRLS' CLUB WORK.=

=HOME PROJECTS FOR 1915=

Conducted by the Extension Service, Rhode Island State College and the United States Department of Agriculture

Boys and girls from nine to eighteen years of age inclusive may enroll.

There will be achievement emblems offered for all those who do successful work. Local prizes may also be offered for good work and exhibits at local shows, such as poultry, corn and flower shows, also grange exhibits. Boys and girls may take up any one or more of the following projects.

_Home Garden._--Cultivation of vegetables, flowers, shrubs, etc.

General care of the garden.

_Market-Garden._--Cultivation of one-twentieth acre of vegetables.

_School and Allotment-Gardens._--Cultivation of vegetables and flowers, etc., in a centralized garden at or near the school or on vacant lots.

_Corn Clubs._--Cultivation of one-tenth acre of corn.

_Potato Clubs._--Cultivation of one-twentieth acre of potatoes.

_Dairy Herd Clubs._--Keeping an accurate record of all milk produced each day.

_Canning Clubs._--Canning fruit and vegetables for home use or for market.

_Baking Clubs._--Baking bread and cake.

_Sewing Clubs._--Making garments and repairing.

_Handicraft Club._--Making useful articles for use in the home or on the farm.

_Bird and Tree Clubs._--The study and recognition of birds and trees.

Official enrollment cards will be sent to boys and girls who wish to enroll in one or more of the projects mentioned above. When received, their names will be sent to Washington, and Uncle Sam will correspond with them occasionally and send them bulletins of information and helpful letters. The State Leader or a.s.sistants will visit the local clubs from time to time, to help them with their work; he will also send helpful bulletins and letters as needed. Monthly reports will be required from each member enrolled in the club work, giving an account of his or her work.

The agent of the Extension Service of the Rhode Island State College writes:

"Inclosed please find a brief explanation of the boys' and girls' club work in agriculture, gardening, domestic science and handicraft work.

This is a splendid movement for the Improvement Society to take up and encourage as a part of their constructive work in any community.

"The greatest a.s.set in any community or state is the boys and girls who are to be the men and women of to-morrow. We should see to it that they are encouraged to be industrious and thrifty. Work of this kind will provide a very profitable as well as an interesting occupation for many idle moments after school, and through the long vacations for our boys and girls. At this time of the year clean-up campaigns are being started, and I would like to tack on to the end of that slogan the word 'plant-up.' I think that boys and girls should be encouraged not only to 'clean-up' the rubbish about their homes, but to invest a few cents in seeds which will germinate and grow and produce a picture very much more attractive than can be produced by many cans of paint and, furthermore, if the right kind of plant is selected, the effect will be perennial."

An ill.u.s.trated lecture on this subject may be secured at any time by making application to the undersigned. Bulletins and circular letters will be sent to the boys and girls who enroll in this club work from time to time. Personal visits will also be made as often as possible if desired.--ERNEST K. THOMAS.

[This is a kind of work every state needs.--A. H. W.]

=V. MAKING A BIRD CENSUS=

There are various ways of making or taking a bird-census, but all depend for their success upon certain rules.

1. Define clearly the area in which the observations are taken.

2. Study carefully the occurrence of species in adjoining localities.

3. Note the differences of occurrence between the foregoing and the area under observation.

4. Study reliable data of other observers, in order to avoid "wild guesses" and to eliminate errors in your own observations.

5. Keep records in a usable form, so that data may be easily compared from year to year.

6. Distinguish between permanent residents, transients, and summer or winter residents or visitors, and accidental visitors.

7. When _in doubt_ as to the ident.i.ty of a species, _never enter_ it in the record, simply to swell the list. Continued study will enable you eventually to determine the most puzzling occurrences.

8. Record carefully temperature, direction and velocity of wind, and if possible, barometric pressure.

9. Chart the area studied, designating wooded places, pastures, marshy and dry places, roadside, orchards, garden, and water s.p.a.ces.

10. Study the destination and point of departure of migrating species.

11. Learn both the common names and the scientific names of species if you intend to be strictly accurate. Common names of the same species frequently differ in different localities and are therefore liable to be misleading. Scientific names are easily mastered and usually have a definite meaning, which will help you to remember some distinguishing character or habit of a species.

12. Always be open to fair criticism, and to acknowledge errors in observation. The most distinguished students of any subject are those who profess to have the most to learn. A keen eye and quick brain are indispensable to any student, and calm judgment must always precede reliable conclusions.

A very practical ill.u.s.tration of how a bird-census may be taken is described in Dr. C. F. Hodge's invaluable book, NATURE-STUDY AND LIFE.

The school-children of the city of Worcester, Ma.s.sachusetts, worked together under Dr. Hodge's direction, and made a census of the nesting-species in a city block for two seasons three years apart, showing not only the number but also the increase and decrease of nesting-species during that time.

From Marion, Virginia, comes a detailed census of the birds found in the surrounding county during the spring migration. s.p.a.ce is not available for printing in full this census, which includes some ninety odd species, but the method followed, as explained by the following communication, is of interest, and should prove helpful to students in other localities. "The Woman's Club of Marion has an organized Audubon Society of sixty pupils and four teachers. The three Junior cla.s.ses are taught once a week from the Audubon leaflets. The Senior Cla.s.s has helped take the census of Smythe County under the guidance of its teacher. In sixteen field lessons, ninety-four species and eighteen hundred and sixty-three birds of these species have been seen."

It should be added that these Audubon cla.s.ses work together with the Woman's Club and the Conservation Committee of Marion, thus fostering a civic interest in bird-life among young and old. If more clubs would interest themselves in organizing work of this kind, a great deal might be learned about the local occurrence and movements of birds which would be of use in following their migrations.--A. H. W.

=SUGGESTIONS=

1. Compare the methods of observation of Th.o.r.eau, Lanier and the author of the jungle quotations.

2. Which author seems to know Nature best?

3. Do you know the trees in your neighborhood as well as Th.o.r.eau did those about Concord and Walden Pond?

4. How many separate things in Nature are enumerated by Lanier in the excerpt from "The Symphony?"