32 HOW TO STUDY BIRDS 



books, with spaces ruled off for all sorts of things, 

 which one may secure, if desired, but unless one is go- 

 ing very extensively into migration records and the 

 like, the common manila-covered " order-book " 

 answers every purpose. A very neat way is to have 

 a small black cloth-bound cover to hold perforated 

 pages. These can be taken out, put on file, and later 

 on tied or bound together, others being inserted as 

 required. 



Besides the field notes, it is an excellent thing to 

 keep a journal of observations and experiences, writ- 

 ten up at home, as an amplification of the hasty jot- 

 tings of the field-notes. This is not essential, in a 

 way. Adults who lead busy lives and can only snatch 

 brief or infrequent intervals for jaunts in the glorious 

 open, and who do not intend to go into the subject 

 very earnestly, of course may feel themselves excused 

 from this. At the same time, it is a delightful thing 

 to be able to read over one's past experiences in years 

 to come. But for the young I earnestly recommend 

 the keeping of a journal. Besides being a great 

 source of pleasure afterwards, it furnishes a constant 

 and fruitful field for facility in the expression of 

 ideas, which may lead on to more important things. 

 This book, for instance, is a direct outcome of that 

 habit. 



A most satisfying and useful method of bird study 

 is along the line of special research. For this one 

 may select a species as such, or a phase of its life, as 

 its nesting habits. Or else some general topic may 



