Bird Portections in Schools

In the School of Education of Chicago University, a new method was adopted in the clay-work department, of modeling bird-houses from clay, the work being done by the children in the sixth grade.

But whether the work is done in the manual-training department or not, there will be little difficulty in arousing the interest of the children sufficiently so that they will build bird-houses and bring them to school for inspection. The matter may be brought to the attention of the children early in the winter, because the houses may serve as a shelter for the winter birds; but the children will probably be more enthusiastic in the early spring, when there is a more immediate prospect that the houses will be occupied.

Method in the Schoolroom. - The subject should be introduced by a general discussion of those birds which nest in hollow trees or other cavities. The children should be asked to search the neighborhood to ascertain to what extent those natural nesting-sites can be found. In many localities these have been entirely cleared away in the development of the land for real-estate purposes, and thus may be urged the necessity of building bird-houses if we would keep up the numbers of these birds. The problems which arise in connection with the construction and location of bird-houses should be talked over with the children and the important precautions to be observed explained as discussed in Chapter 11. The really essential features having been made clear, the children should be allowed to use their ingenuity and individuality about arranging other details.

Difficulties. -The children should understand the difficulties to be met, so as to avoid undue disappointment, and should be prepared to overcome them so far as possible. The greatest obstacle of all will be the English sparrow. Some devices which may assist in keeping this bird away have been discussed in Chapter II, the most effective one of which is to make the hole so small that the sparrows cannot enter, but large enough for the wren and chickadee. With bluebirds' and tree swallows' houses probably the most effective thing which the children can do is to make the houses so that the top may be easily lifted, and then to remove the eggs of the sparrow once a week or as fast as they are laid. But in no event should the sparrow be allowed to rear young. If nothing else can be done, the entrance holes should be covered, or the house taken down, as soon as it is evident that no other bird is going to use the house. Of course killing the sparrows cannot be recommended to the children. Whatever is done in this line must be left to the adults.