If Bird and Arbor Day can make you understand and feel this message, it will be the happiest day of the year for you.--A. H. W.
=Exercise XXVI. Correlated Studies: School Gardening and Reading=
In view of the fact that valuable suggestions are being received from time to time, as to practical methods of conducting and encouraging bird- and nature-study, it is perhaps a wise and timely interruption of the ordinary Junior Audubon exercise to submit the following five methods for the consideration of teachers and pupils. Each of these methods contains at least one idea which can be worked out along local lines by any teacher with the aid of willing pupils. Some of these methods are particularly applicable to Bird and Arbor Day, for we have now somewhat outgrown the necessity of simply having "exercises" to mark that day. When _all days_ are Bird and Arbor Days, we shall have gained a strong point in bird- and nature-study, and let it be hoped no school will omit some sincere recognition of the day, this spring.
=Ways of Keeping Up Interest in Bird-Study=
During the years of 1914 and 1915, I have learned a great deal about birds. We have an Audubon Society in our room which I think is very interesting. We have about sixteen members, and we watch and study the birds very carefully. Our teacher read us a story out of BIRD-LORE that one of her pupils wrote last year for the magazine. It certainly is interesting.
One day we went into Miss W----'s room, to have our society together. After we finished the program, we played a game called 'Guessing Birds.' Some one would go to the front of the room with a bird pinned on her back and one of the teachers would ask some one in the room a question about the bird. Then they would have to guess the name of the bird. We had lots of fun playing this game. Some of the children could not guess the bird that they had on their backs. Then the teacher would take if off and put her hand over the name of the bird and ask if they knew what it was.
There has not been much snow in Herndon, so the birds can find a good deal of food without anyone feeding them. With our fines we bought some wire and suet. One day we went to the woods not far from the schoolhouse to feed the birds. We tacked the wire on the trees and then put the suet under the wire. It will soon be time to go and put more suet under the wire for the birds.--GERALDINE SAGER (Aged 11), Herndon, Va.