Bird Day

A bird’s wing on a bonnet, a stolen egg in a boy’s pocket: in 1894, both were signs of a threat to America’s birds. Could a day in school change what children—and grown-ups—thought worth protecting?

In Oil City, Pennsylvania, schoolchildren were eager to tell one another what they had seen birds do. Their superintendent, Charles Almanzo Babcock, wondered whether setting aside a special day could turn that delight into lasting care. On May 4, 1894, the first Bird Day brought compositions, discussions, teachers’ talks, and birds from literature into the classroom. Babcock’s book makes the case for watching birds alive: their songs and habits can spark curiosity, while their work in fields and gardens matters to people, too. Can one day of close attention help children see their feathered neighbors differently?

With centuries of literature, it's inevitable that some will fall through the cracks. We hunt down public domain works and restore them so they're not lost to the world.

Who are we? We're Cairn Press. Our background is in design, publishing, typography, and technology. These skills fuel our mission to create the highest quality Public Domain eBooks available online, at an affordable price. We give them the treatment they deserve; our proprietary process restores books for a better overall user experience in design, readability, and e-reader compatibility.