HOW TO BEGIN 33 



rambles we may be able to augment even such 

 collections. 



If any boy should be induced to follow out some 

 special course of Natural History study, let him bear 

 in mind that his hobbies ought not to inconvenience 

 other people. He must keep his specimens in a 

 proper place. If he should be untidy, and leave the 

 various objects lying about in the drawing-room, he 

 will never make a careful collector. A tidy boy will 

 become a tidy man. Whatever you collect you 

 should read about in the best books on the subject 

 you can get hold of, and, if possible, you should make 

 your own notes about them in a special manuscript 

 book. A certain botanist carefully enters in his diary 

 the dates on which he sees the several orchids in 

 flower, and it is surprising how regularly they respond 

 to the dates of previous years. If I ask him to come 

 in search of some particular bloom, he will refer to his 

 book, and if I am premature in my request, he will 

 quietly reply, ' You will not find it before such and 

 such a day.' 



The entomologist, too, is equally careful to enter 

 the dates of the capture of insects, so that he may 

 refer to the entries in future seasons. Some moths 

 are so punctual that they come out only at certain 

 fixed hours, as regularly as clockwork, and it is useless 

 to seek them at other times. 



If you grow keen in the pursuit of such objects as 

 are described in these pages, you will find your walks 

 much more enjoyable, and your holiday excursions 



C 



