Watch the wrens returning to the nest; what do they carry to their young? Where do the wrens get the snails and grubs? Observe how the robins find the worms and how they pull them out of the ground. Follow the downy woodpecker to the apple tree and find out what he was pecking. Watch the crow in the pasture field and learn whether this bird kills grasshoppers and crickets.
Observe the birds that pick seeds out of the weeds.
Collecting birds' eggs should be condemned, because it nearly always leads to the robbing of the nests. The practice of exchanging eggs is the chief cause of this; for although an occasional boy will collect wisely, the greater number are simply anxious to add to their collection without regard for the sacredness of the birds' homes.
A collection of birds' nests may be made after the nests have been abandoned for the season, and it will be found useful for interesting the pupils in the ingenuity, neatness, and instinctive foresight of the builders.
REFERENCES
Chapman and Reed: Colour Key to North American Birds $2.75
Reed: Bird Guide, Pts. I and II .75
Silcox and Stevenson: Modern Nature Study .75
Cornish: Thirty Lessons in Nature Study on Birds. Dominion Book Company 1.00
Canadian Birds in Relation to Agriculture. This chart has pictures in colours of eighty-eight Canadian birds. G. M. Hendry Co., $3.00.