172 NOTEBOOKS AND COLLECTIONS 



months of the year, as compared with those 

 earlier months, when growth is rapid, and 

 objects seem to spring into our notice so 

 quickly that we scarcely know how to make 

 a selection amongst the many things calling 

 for the recording pencil. It is otherwise at 

 the end of the year. We find it easier to 

 mark the first appearance of anything than 

 its last, and when everything is withering 

 and passing away, we do not feel ourselves 

 so much at a loss to choose our entries. 



With the approach of a New Year, the 

 preparation of a Naturalist's Calendar may 

 well hold a place among those schemes of 

 work and self -improvement, which we are 

 wont to form at such a time, and which we 

 too often forget immediately the festive season 

 has passed. If once seriously undertaken, 

 there is a fascination about the formation of 

 a calendar, which affords a reasonable hope 

 of the resolution being adhered to. It does 

 not matter how trifling the entries may seem. 

 The main points to be observed are prompti- 

 tude in making the notes, and accuracy in 

 recording matters of fact. Little purpose is 

 served by writing up entries in the calendar 



