1320 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part 3 



non-game species. Corresponding figures for 1960 are 5,33S, or 4.3 

 percent of all birds banded, and for 1961, 5,418 or 4.2 percent of all 

 birds banded. The number of banders reporting to this Association 

 increased from 167 in 1959 to 185 in 1961 (Stoner et al, 1960, 1961 

 and 1962). 



Because so many white-crowned sparrows are trapped each year, 

 the data from banding would fill a large volume. No attempt is 

 made here to summarize all the facts. Instead, I have chosen two 

 long term studies to discuss in detail: one, a project conducted for 

 18 years under conditions as stable and as close to primitive as are 

 ever likely to be achieved today in California, and the other, an 

 experimental study begun in 1961 and still in progress as this article 

 goes to press. Both projects illustrate the unique contributions of 

 banding to our knowledge of Zonotrichia leucophrys. 



The first is a study of survival of banded birds conducted by Jean 

 and Mary Linsdale and co-workers in the winter seasons of 1937 

 through 1955 at the Hastings Reservation in the Santa Lucia Moun- 

 tains, Monterey County, Calif. During the 18 seasons the study was 

 made, the Linsdales banded 13,366 individuals of 46 species of native 

 birds. Of these, 2,299 were wintering white-crowned sparrows, 

 probably chiefly pugetensis, although the race is not specified. The 

 results of the study are reported by Linsdale (1949) and by Linsdale 

 and Linsdale (1956). Of special interest are the age profiles for each 

 year for the population (Table 4, p. 94 of Linsdale, 1949). In 1942-43, 

 for example, a total of 189 individuals were trapped. Of these, 113 

 were birds with immature plumage which were therefore less than 1 

 year old, and 16 were adults trapped for the first time. The rest were 

 recaptures of birds banded in previous years; 51 were banded as im- 

 matures and hence their approximate age was known. Of these, 25 

 were between 1 and 2 years old, 9 were between 2 and 3 years old, 8 

 were between 3 and 4 years old, 7 were between 4 and 5 years old, and 

 2 were between 5 and 6 years old. The remaining 9 of the 189 birds 

 trapped that season were banded as adults, and 2 of them were at 

 least 6 to 7 years old. 



Table 4 also gives data on the yearly decline in percentage of re- 

 captures for a given batch of birds banded as immatures. Of the 

 122 birds banded as immatures in 1941-42, 25 or 20.5 percent were 

 re-trapped in 1942-43; 10 of these, or 8.2 percent of the original 

 122 birds, were recaptured in 1943-44, 6, or 4.9 percent returned in 

 1944-45, 5, or 4.1 percent were taken in 1945-46, and 2, or 1.6 percent 

 of the original total survived to re-enter the traps in 1946-47. As 

 would be expected, the corresponding percentages of survivors are 

 not quite the same if a different year is used as the starting point, but 

 all the curves are similar in showing that the heaviest drop-off in 



