A record, with dates, should be kept, and the following topics are suggested for observation:
Where the nest is located, protection of the nest, part of building done by each bird; eggs, number, colour, size, time required for hatching; young birds, number, description, how fed and upon what foods, time required before ready to leave the nest; history for a time after leaving the nest.
Birds suitable for study by the pupils of Form II are the crow, flicker, downy woodpecker, blue-bird, chipping-sparrow, phoebe, wren.
Correlate with art, by requiring drawings and models of the nest and its surroundings, and with language, by having pupils write the history of the nest and family.
THE TOAD
FIELD EXERCISES
Direct the pupils to watch for toads under the street lamps and on the lawns in the evenings, and to observe what they are doing.
Find out, by turning over boards, logs of wood, stones, and old stumps, where toads spend the daytime.
If there is a sandy beach near by, an interesting nature lesson is to trace a toad to its daytime retreat under a log or stone. Its wanderings and adventures during the night can be traced from the record that its trail makes in the sand.
Are toads that live in light-coloured sand of the same colour as those that live in black clay? Of what value to the toad are these differences in colour?