25 
symbols of the simplest character, to be careful that they should 
yet be sufficient to express all that one would wish to record. 
This idea struck me more than twenty years ago — towards the 
end of the summer of 1849 ; and I at once began to devise such 
a set of symbols. A little consideration and a few trials gave me 
assurance that the plan would not be difficult to practice — and, in 
I think, the month of September of that year, my brother Edward 
and I began, by way of experiment, a temporary “Eegister.” 
This succeeded so well that wo set about the preparation of a 
pe/i-manent one on a large scale, in the form of a suitable book, in 
which, being ready by the close of the year, we commenced our 
work in earnest on New-year’s day, 1850, and either jointly or 
severally we continued it with a few intervals, when it happened 
that neither of us was at home, until the end of 1859; then, 
my brother having taken up his abode abroad, and I (from various 
causes which I need not particularize) not enjoying the same 
facilities for observation as formerly, it seemed inexpedient to keep 
up the practice — for the absence of those facilities would have 
impaired the value of the observations made at the two periods. 
Now before describing our method further, I would remark that 
the scope of our “ Register ” was nmch more extended than, so far 
as I am aware, any series of observations which had hitherto been 
carried on by other ornithologists. It was our object to record 
^^y by day the appearance not only of every or nearly every 
species of bird, but, to a greater or less degree, its relative abun- 
dance, or scarcity — and, with respect occasionally to some species, 
the appearance of every individual bird. Though undoubtedly 
such previous acquaintance as we had unth the avifauna of our 
particular tract of country was advantageous, we did not wish to 
presume upon that acquaintance more than we could help. We 
wished to make the birds tell their own stor}^ for themselves, so 
that their appearance or disappearance, their abundance or scarcity, 
should be shoum plainly by the pages of our “ Eegister.” We 
were not content with merely knowing the date of the first 
appearance of the Swallow, the Fieldfare and our other well-known 
migrants, but we wished to know how they appeared — whether 
singly or in force — whether the males preceded the females, and 
so forth. Further, wo were not content until merely noting the 
date of the commencement of the song of the Redbreast or the 
