4 OBJECTIVE SEASONAL LESSONS. - 
the identification of the bird, as explained on 
page 75. 
Exercises of this nature should be repeated until 
the student can describe birds quickly and accurately 
and has thoroughly mastered the use of the key. 
If possible, this class-room work should be fre- 
quently supplemented by observations in the field. 
When the country is not available, large parks often 
prove by no means poor substitutes, and during the 
migrations they are frequently thronged with birds. 
Even when field lessons are out of the question, it 
is strongly advised that the studies of certain birds 
be made during the season when they are present. — 
The best plan is to begin in December with the birds 
which are with us throughout the year, or the Per- 
manent Residents, adding the Winter Visitants in 
January and February. As the migrants from the 
south appear, they may form the subjects of the 
month’s lessons, and the course ends naturally in 
June, when all the summer birds have arrived. 
This method associates the birds with their respec- 
tive seasons, and for the field student is particularly 
advantageous. He takes up the subject at a time 
when the comparatively small number of birds pres- 
ent greatly simplifies the question of identification, 
and before the first migrants arrive in March, should 
have become familiar with the commoner Permanent 
Residents and Winter Visitants. | 
When field work is practicable, each student should 
keep a record of the birds observed. Notes of this 
kind, made during the migration, are particularly 
interesting. They may be entered on a large page 
ruled in squares, similar in style to those of a rolJ-call 
