Write down all sorts of notes, be they ever so incomplete. Make sketches
of birds as you see them; diagram the songs and call-notes. Keep all
that you write as accurate and free from imagination as possible. Do not
accredit a bird with certain colors until you see them.
A note-book may take the form of a diary wherein is stated the
temperature of the day, the weather conditions, the length and route of
your field-trip, and the birds which you saw, together with notes upon
them. Or, your system may be more elaborate, with a separate sheet for
each species whereon you put all the data which you accumulate, more or
less, perforce, in chronological order. The principal point to remember
is that notes should be written while they are fresh in the mind, on the
spot, if possible, to avoid inaccuracies.