28 Biillciin No. rg. 



ing for more notes. Mr. Stephen J. Adams, Cornish, Maine, desires any 

 and all notes from all sections of the country at once so that the work of 

 compiling may begin. Any note you may have will be a welcome 

 addition to his report. 



I am glad to refer you to the announcement of the Committee on Geo- 

 graphical Distribution, which appears in this issue. ■ Read it and act 

 upon its suggestions. 



Lynds Jones, Chiu'rpian of U'o)-k. 



COMMITTEE ON GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 



FURTHER MFXHANICAL HELPS TO OBSERVATION. 



Several of our members having taken so kindly to the suggestions made 

 in Bulletin No. 14 with reference to daily horizons and bird censuses, 

 I venture to submit other ideas along the same line. By speaking of 

 mechanical helps, I do not refer to instruments which observers may use, 

 such as opera glasses, camera, etc., (purposely omitting the shot-gun), 

 but rather to those schemes or methods of study which may fairly be 

 called mechanical. 



First in importance after those already discussed I should place the 

 cxnnmxl horizon, or local list for the year. This may be, if you please, 

 a formal list, such as the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture provides for in its 

 migration blanks, or it may simply be indicated by a series of consecu- 

 tive numbers, running through your note-book. For my part, I employ 

 the latter method, throwing a circle around each number; so as to make 

 it stand out from the page, and catch the eye in hasty reference. 



Always record first appearances, no matter what the season or what its 

 possible bearing on migration. By so doing one gets into the wa)- of ex- 

 pecting old bird friends, and refuses to be satisfied until he has seen 

 them. So too, one gets the winter residents straightened out in his 

 mind, and notes untimely appearances that would be overlooked by the 

 man who is jotting down only migration records in the height of the sea- 

 son. Begin on the first day of January, if possible, and follow it 

 through, according to opportunity, until the 31st day of December. 



This annual horizon should have a definite local significance; that is, 

 the limits of observation should be decided upon at the beginning of the 

 year and adhered to throughout. Such a section as one expects to fre- 

 quent the most will of course be chosen. INIany valuable and instructive 



