14 



Bulletin of the Michigan Ornithological Club. 



t 



made them yield all of wliich thej were 

 capable. 



Much of his early life was passed on a 

 farm in Genessee County, near Flint, and 

 he collected extensively _in that region. 

 His later life was spent, largely, in and 

 about Lansing, and during the last few 

 years he resumed the study of the moUusca 

 and spent many pleasant hours in rearrang- 

 ing his collection of shells in the Museum 

 of the Agricultural College. It was here 

 that the writer first came to know him, and 

 to recognize those qualities which belong 

 only to the true lover of nature and the 

 deep student of her mysteries. The range 

 of Dr. Miles' knowledge was unusually 

 large. Educated as a physician he was well 

 versed in questions of anatomy, both struc- 

 tural and comparative, and was ever on 

 the alert to detect similarities of structure, 

 which might indicate true affinities. But 

 he was also a chemist and a physicist, well 

 read in geology and mineralogy, enthusi- 

 astic in biology, both animal and vegetable, 

 and a practical agriculturist in the scientific 

 application of all this knowledge. As a 

 teacher he is said to have been unusually 

 successful, though, as in so many cases, the 

 recognition of this lagged far behind the 

 fact. B.e was not pre-eminet as an ornith- 

 oligist, but all which he did in this line has 

 stood the test of time, and while many ad- 

 ditions have been made to his bird list of 

 203 species, printed in 1861, only two or 

 three subtractions have been necessary, and 

 these were species which appear to have 

 been included on the authority of others. 

 Like many of the older ornithologists, he 

 followed Audubon in considering the im- 

 mature Bald Eagle to be a distinct species, 

 Washington's Eagle. 



Dr. Miles died at Lansing, Feb. 15, 

 1898, in his 72d year, leaving a record of 

 which any scientific man might well be 

 proud, together with many friends and ad- 

 mirers of his quiet, studious, unassuming 

 life, who will ever mourn his loss. 



Walter B. Barrows. 

 Agricultural College, Mich., 

 May 3, 1898. 



fV Few Hints on Takino and KeeDing Notes. 



DR. ROBT. H. WOLCOTT. 



Note Books. 



The methods of note-taking in natural 

 history are as varied as the number of 

 students is numerous, and to each the 

 method which he uses, into which he has 

 grown, and to which he has adapted himself, 

 seems best. Yet perhaps a statement of 

 what I believe myself the best system may 

 not be without interest to the Club, and 

 from it the members may glean some assist- 

 ance in devising a system of their own. 



I keep three books, or have recently done 

 so, a Field-book, Journal and Ledger, as 

 the third may be called. Adopting an 

 advisory style of expression and summariz- 

 ing what I have to say, let me take the 

 three in order. 



Field "book. 



Have a well-bound, not too bulky, vol- 

 ume of such size as to slip easily into one's 

 pocket. Such a book as a Surveyor's Field- 

 book is just the thing. Tie a pencil to it 

 with a string of proper length to permit of 

 writing easily. Always, carry it with you 

 in the field. Put down everything you note 

 about the object of your study. You can- 

 not take too 'many notes. Insert sketches 

 on the spot, if you have skill and time. 

 The former is acquired by all with practice. 

 Diagrams as to location of nests may be 

 made. In fact the Field-book ought to be 

 a receptacle — a crop — into which all crude 

 information is turned. 



Journal. 



i3ut it is extremelv desirable that this 

 material be put in form for permanent pre- 

 servation, and this may be done by writing 

 out all the small notes from the field book, 

 together with what may be added from ob- 

 servations during the preservation of the 

 specimens. Use here as good a literary 

 style as your time and attainments permit, 

 and you will find the practice in writing, 

 thus gained, to be of great value. 



These two books are essential — not so is 

 the 



"Ledger," 



and yet it is of great value. Pages may be 



! 



