One of the rarest of all American geese is the Aleutian Canada goose found in the wild only on Buldir Island, so far 

 as is known. Twelve birds taken as goslings on the island are being held at the Monte Vista National Wildlife 

 Refuge in Colorado as propagation stock. Birds produced in captivity will be returned to their native range. 

 (Photo by C. Eugene Knoder) 



Bird banding 



Increased interest in bird banding has been re- 

 flected by dniniutic increases in tlie volume of rec- 

 ords and requests liandled at tiie bird-banding rec- 

 ords center during 1964. 



Banding activities, as indicated by the number 

 of bands issued and subsequent number of band 

 recoveries received, have sliown a steady climb, 

 with marked increases during recent yeare (graphs 

 jiage 14). In 1964, a record 2,525,788 bands were 

 issued. During the same period a record 5S,98(i 

 band recoveries were reported to the banding lab- 

 orator}', an increase of approximately i2I) percent 

 over tlie number rei)orted during 1963. p'ur- 

 ther evidence of increased interest is the 253 new 

 banding permits issued in 1964, approximately 18 

 percent over 1963. 



In addition to handling bird-banding records 

 for North America, the Migratory Bird Popula- 

 tions Station continued its coojjeration with the 

 U.S. Antarctic Research Project's banding pro- 

 gram, the Smithsonian Institution's Pacific proj- 

 ect, and the Bird and Mammal Laboratory's bat- 

 banding program. \ 



Bat banding 



A principal source of information on the habits 

 and biology of bats is the banding program coor- 

 dinated by the Bird and Mammal Laboratories. 

 Interest in the program continues at a high level, 

 partly because of tlie iiivohciiicnt of bats with 

 rabies and other public liealth problems. This 

 interest was evident at the annual meeting of the 

 American Society of Mammalogists in June 19()4. 

 where special sessions were devoted to bats, and 



