26 CIVIC BIOLOGY 



observations upon birds, insects, trees, fungi, weeds, native 

 flowers, and common plants, elaborate the following plan as 

 early in the year as possible. Let two students combine upon 

 the same tract of land, in order to secure greater completeness 

 of the f)ractical work, but each should make his own field charts 

 in as careful detail as if he were working the tract alone. 



Select some readily accessible piece of land of limited area. 

 On a farm, the home lot with the dooryard, garden, orchard, 

 and grove will be most suitable. The village lot of an acre or 

 two is exactly adapted to this work. In an open city the home 

 lot, if well planted, may prove the best selection we can make, 

 but probably the residential block in which the home stands 

 will provide necessary variety and scope. For the crowded 

 city we must have recourse to public parks and gardens, and 

 to accessible tracts in the suburbs, for the study of which defi- 

 nite permission can be obtained. The tract should present, if 

 possible, a variety of natural features, — hill, meadow, ravine, 

 brook or edge of pond, and especially variety in plant forms, 

 — lawn, garden, orchard, field, meadow, woods. A variety of 

 shrubbery and low-growing trees makes a tract preferable to 

 one with very tall trees, which are difficult and unsatisfactory 

 to work. By properly dividing the neighborhood among the 

 class, however, all the important features of the locality may 

 be covered, and this will add interest and completeness to the 

 work as a whole. 



As a preliminary, draw an outline map to convenient scale, 

 and with due regard to points of the compass. Within tliis, 

 first sketch in standard contour lines and indicate location of 

 water, marsh, swamp, rock outcrops, and all buildings and 

 superficial subdivisions, — lawns, gardens, orchards, fields, 

 pastures, woods. 



We are now ready to plot the details. Count and locate all 

 the trees, vines, and shrubs, and indicate clearly the areas cov- 

 ered by different plants or crops. Locate all birds' nests and 



