The Bird Study BookPearson, T. Gilbert (Thomas Gilbert)
Science
The Bird Study Book
Pearson, T. Gilbert (Thomas Gilbert)
Birds; Birds -- Conservation
"After we had used all ten of the leaflets you sent us, we had lessons
on some of the other birds, or, instead of a regular lesson, we went
for a bird walk. I divided the class for these walks, taking ten
children at a time. How excited they would get over the birds they
saw! Nearly always they could identify the birds themselves, sometimes
I helped them, sometimes my bird book helped me, and sometimes we had
to write in the notebooks, 'unknown.' I will not try to tell you about
all the good results of our Audubon Class that I have noticed. The
most important thing I think is that a few more children have a keen
interest and a true love for their little brothers of the air. Last
year a favourite pastime of a neighbour was shooting birds for his cat,
and I think he was no more particular than his cat as to the kind of
birds he destroyed. His little daughter was a member of the Audubon
Class and this spring I notice our {250} neighbour's cat has to catch
its own birds. Perhaps, if the little girl can be an Audubon member
another year, there will be no more cat!
"A mother of another little member of the class used to delight in
birds' plumes, breasts, or feathers of some kind on her hat. Her
spring hat this year was trimmed in ribbon. I have heard several bird
lovers say that they have noticed more of our common wild birds about
this place than there were last year, and they believe the Junior
Audubon societies in the schools have brought about this happy state.
When school closed many of the mothers came to me and said that they
wished to thank me for what I had done for their children along the
line of nature study, especially of birds. They said that they thought
the Junior Audubon Class a splendid thing for their children. And I
think it is equally good for the teachers."
Another Junior Club leader, Miss Edna Stafford, a teacher in the public
schools of Albany, Indiana, writes: "One day last summer a
twelve-year-old boy {251} was out in our street with an airgun shooting
at every bird he could see. Recently this same boy came to me with a
bird that was hurt, and in a most sympathetic tone said: 'Who do you
suppose could have been mean enough to hurt this dear little bird?' Our
study of birds in the Junior Audubon Class brought about this change in
the boy."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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