On Methods in Teaching Ornithology at OberHn College BY LYNDS JONES Instructor in Zoology in Oberlin College [HIS article has not to do with ideal methods in teach- ing people about birds. Ideal methods presuppose ideal conditions, which cannot be expected if the subject be taught as a part of a large college cur- riculum and as a part of the teacher's work. The subjoined remarks will therefore be rather an expla- nation of the methods employed under the conditions named than as a statement of what the writer hopes that he may some time be able to realize. There are taught, in Oberlin College, three courses in orni- thology. The beginning course, which meets for recitation three times a week during the spring term, aims at a general introduction to the subject, with special stress laid upon field familiarity with a limited number of the more common local species as a basis for further study. The advanced course, with two meetings a week for recitation, undertakes economic and philosophic studies, which require original field work. A course is also offered in the summer school, which meets five times a week for eight weeks, designed for teachers and others who have little or no previous acquaintance with birds, but who desire to teach the subject to children. The methods em- ployed in each of these courses may now be discussed separately. Until the advent of Mr. Frank M. Chapman's ' Handbook' made the use of a text-book possible, the work in the beginning course was wholly given in lectures. With that book as a text for the syste- matic part of the work, a much larger opportunity for lectures upon habits and field characteristics was afforded. This course is introduced by a brief history of ornithology and a statement of present day activities, showing where effort may be profitably directed. This brief history is followed by a careful scrutiny of the content of ornithology, indicating the bird's place in nature structurally, and its economic importance. After a brief notice of migration and distribution, the real subject is entered upon in the study of the orders as a basis for the study of species. A thorough drill upon the names and characteristics of each of the seventeen orders of North American birds is followed by a somewhat less rig- orous drill upon the minor divisions of the orders as illustrated by the common local species of each, except the Passerine birds, which (14)
