VALUE OF A DIARY 129 



had the satisfaction of adding nearly sixty different 

 kinds of birds that had, for some unaccountable 

 reason, remained unscheduled! 



I believe that there is a real good work to be 

 accomplished in the preparation of local lists of 

 animals and plants throughout the whole country, 

 for both are repeatedly occurring where they had 

 previously been overlooked, and in this good work 

 the Boy Scout and the young naturalist can, and 

 indeed should, play an important part. 



I need hardly remind you to keep a Natural 

 History diary in which to record the movements 

 of animals, the dates of their coming and going, 

 their breeding or nesting, feeding times, habits, 

 nature of the food, and various other points that 

 need not be detailed; and with regard to plants, of 

 course records will be kept of where and when a 

 plant was found, the nature of the soil, the abun- 

 dance or scarcity, flowering and fruiting times, as 

 well as the date of foliation, notes on fertilisation, 

 what animals (if any) feed upon it, and so on. 



Bear in mind that no record need appear too 

 trifling, for in after years what seemed at the time 

 a trivial entry may prove to be of the greatest 

 value. 



I take it most of you will evince the keenest 

 pleasure in stalking wild animals with a field-glass 

 or camera, and that few, if any, of you will 

 lend your aid in killing any animal that has 



