200 Felger, Card System of Note-keeping. \_Auril 



A CARD SYSTEM OF NOTE-KEEPING. 



BY A. H. FELGER. 



Several years ago I presented to the readers of 'The Auk '(Vol. 

 XIX, 1902, pp. 189-195, 314) a plan for recording in a condensed 

 form the life history notes of birds. This system provided for the 

 keeping of notes on sheets of paper ruled and cross-ruled in suitable 

 manner, a method of note-keeping that had previously found favor 

 with many ornithologists because thereby one could see at a glance 

 the different species observed during each day as well as the dif- 

 ferent days that each species was observed. In presenting the 

 above mentioned plan it was my purpose to enlarge upon the system 

 then in general use and present to field ornithologists a system by 

 which not only the number of birds of each species observed each 

 day might be seen at a glance, but also environments, conditions 

 of plumage, stages of moult, indications of mating, indications of 

 nest-building, etc. 



Since publishing the above named article I have, for my own use, 

 transformed this sheet system into a card system, which I now 

 desire to place before the readers of 'The Auk' in the hope that 

 by my labors some one besides myself may be benefited. 



In this system I use three distinct types of cards, each 3 in. X 

 5 in. and of 'medium weight,' which, for convenience of reference 

 here, I shall designate 'condition card' (Fig. 1, card 1), 'barred 

 card' (Fig. 2, card 1), and 'extension card' (Fig. 1, card 2; Fig. 

 2, card 2). The cards for these plates were not selected with 

 reference to contemporaneity, which I hope will not confuse, but 

 selected with a view to illustrating to better advantage the plan of 

 amplifying notes on the 'extension cards.' 



The content and method of arrangement of the subject matter 

 to be placed on the 'condition cards' and 'barred cards' is 

 practically the same as that of the 'headline spaces' and 'sec- 

 tions' respectively of my original system. 



The abbreviations used on these cards are defined as follows: — 



Loc. = locality. 

 Plum. = plumage. 



