Keeping Field Records 175 



heard and felt a hundred beauties which delight the soul and 

 fill it with happy memories. We enjoyed most the fish we 

 didn't catch. 



KEEPING FIELD RECORDS. 

 By a. F. Gainer. 



A detail in connection with bird study which is very gen- 

 erally accepted is the fact that we should keep systematic 

 field notes and records of our observations. Just how to do 

 this in the least irksome manner has been the cause of much 

 thought and the subject of a number of articles on the sub- 

 ject. 



The field notebook is used quite generally, but is objec- 

 tionable, for the reason that it is more or less bulky, and for 

 that reason is often left at home. Again we sometimes have 

 so much respect for the neatness of its contents that we 

 hesitate to scribble in it with a dull pencil, perhaps in the 

 midst of a summer shower or a driving snow. Unless we 

 submit to the expense and bulkiness of a loose-leaf notebook, 

 we are unable to substitute new sheets for old should occa- 

 sion arise. 



After many years of systematic note keeping I have set- 

 tled upon the card system of keeping field records and find 

 it meets every need. Briefly, the idea is to have printed upon 

 both sides of a 3x5 bristol board card the names of about 

 130 of the birds most often noted the year 'round. As shown 

 by the illustration, there has been left below such species as 

 the warblers, sparrows, etc., several blank lines for those 

 which are rare and not ordinarily met, to be inserted in pen- 

 cil should they be encountered. Sufficient space is left on 

 the line behind each name to check off the number of indi- 

 viduals as they are met. Additional blank lines are also left 

 at the end of the list for short notes, etc. The heading speaks 

 for itself. 



The cards are 3x5 in size, which dimensions are standard 

 for index cards the country over. For this reason they will 



