45 
In the spring of 1885 Dr. C, Hart Merriam, chairman of the Commit- 
tee on Migration of the American Ornithologists’ Union, prepared and 
sent out blank schedules for the use of the observers in reporting their 
notes. A vopy (on a reduced scale) of the heading of one of these 
schedules is here given: 
INLAND DIVISION. 
1885, 
AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION. 
COMMITTEE ON BIRD MIGRATION. 
BIRDS OBSERVED AT STATION. 
Number of station, . Name of station, 
Name and P. O. address of observer, _— 
When was 7 
it first seen,| When heer When Is it oe 4 
’ and was it id it wasit | common | it bree 
Name of bird, about how} next become last or near your Remarks. 
many were| scen? |common?| seen? rare? station ? 
observed ? 
On the back of the schedules the following ‘Instructions” were 
printed: 
INSTRUCTIONS. 
In the first column should be stated the exact date when each kind of bird was 
first seen. This entry should be made on the day the bird arrives—not from memory 
afterwards (general statements, such as ‘‘Jate in March,” ‘‘early in April,” etc., are 
of no value). The number observed (approximate) should also be recorded. 
In the second column should be stated the date when the same kind of bird was 
next seen—whether this happens on the very next day, the next week, or not till a 
month later. 
In the third column should be stated the date when the bird becomes common. 
Some birds come in a body and are common from the day of their first arrival, while 
others straggle along and are not common for a month or more; and others still are 
never common. 
In the fourth column should be stated the last date when the bird was observed. 
In the spring migration this column will remain vacant in those species which breed 
in the neighborhood, as it can be filled only when all the individuals go north. In 
the fall migration it should be filled in those species which pass farther south, but 
must remain vacant in those which spend the winter in the vicinity of the station. 
In the fifth column should be stated whether the species is abundant, common, tol- 
erably common, or rare. 
In the sixth column it is necessary only to say yes or no. 
Each schedule contained spaces for noting the movements of 36 spe- 
cies of birds. 
In 1885, schedules relating to spring migration were received from 
87 observers, distributed as follows: One in Mississippi, 12 in Illinois, 
16 in Wisconsin, 1 in Louisiana, 6 in Missouri, 19 in Iowa, 11 in Minne- 
sota, 5 in Texas, 4 in Kansas, 2 in Nebraska, 6 in Dakota, and 4in Man- 
