OBJECTIVE SEASONAL LESSONS. 5 
book. ‘The bird’s name is entered at the left side of 
the page, the date at the top, and the record for the 
day is placed in the square opposite the bird’s name 
and below the date. It may consist simply of a 
check or mark indicating that the species was seen, 
but preferably should give the approximate num- 
ber of individuals observed ; whether the species was 
heard singing; whether observed in flocks; and any 
other information which can be easily and inteili- 
gibly abbreviated. 
A journal should be kept in which to write a 
more detailed account of the day’s experiences. 
These may also form the subject of compositions, 
and the class-room work should now include com- 
parison and discussion of observations made in the 
field. Compositions may also be written on cer- 
tain species, when the outline of a bird’s biogra- 
phy, given on page 73, will furnish suggestions 
as to the heads under which the subject may be 
treated. 
Later, the philosophic or subjective side of bird- 
study may be considered, and compositions written 
on structure and habit, color, migration, nesting, 
ete. 
As a definite guide to seasonal bird-studies in’ the 
middle Eastern States, the following outline of the 
bird-life of a year is given. It is based on observa- 
tions made in the vicinity of New York city, and 
includes all the land-birds and the commoner water- 
birds inhabiting this region. It may be prefaced by 
a definition of the four groups in which our birds 
rence (see page 53), as follows: 
