Aleutian chain, nesting on main of the islands. 

 Widespread introduction of foxes on the islands, 

 mostly after 1880, led to losses of geese so severe 

 that the race was al one time regarded as extinct. 

 Buldir Island, extremely remote and forbidding, 

 was spared the attention of the fox ranchers, and 

 hctv a population of the geese persisted. An ex- 

 pedition in July sought to obtain goslings for 

 propagal ion in cap! ivity. 



Personnel of the party included five Bureau 

 employees and a graduate student of the Univer- 

 sity of British Columbia. Support and hearty 

 cooperation were provided by personnel of the 

 U.S. Navy. Coast Guard, Federal Aviation 

 Agency, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, and 

 three commercial airlines. 



The weather during time on the island was 

 windy, with heavy fog and ram. The party saw 

 120 adult and 31 young geese; il was estimated 

 that a total of 200 to -".on might occur there. Oh 

 tabled were 18 goslings, which were transported 

 by air to Denver for eventual transfer to the 

 .Monte Vista Refuse in Colorado. During the ex- 

 pedition, observations were also made of 35 species 

 of birds and 6 of marine mammals. 



Cooperative Wildlife Research Units conduct 

 250 projects 



In 1963, the 18 Cooperative Wildlife Research 

 Units worked on about 250 formal projects, of 

 which about 80 were completed. This research, all 

 at the graduate level, resulted in the graduation of 

 50 men with masters* degrees and -21 with doctoral 

 degrees. The 18 Unit schools also graduated 162 

 men with bachelors' degrees. 



NEW RESEARCH FACILITIES 

 Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center 



In response to the need for a center to handle 

 more effectively research concerned with wetland 

 habitat preservation and management, a new facil- 

 ity, authorized by the Congress in 1962, came into 

 being in 1963. Called the Northern Prairie Wild- 

 life Research ('enter, it consists of -i land tracts 

 iii North Dakota: a 500-acre headquarters near 

 Jamestown, and a 1,440-acre research area near 



Woodworth. The Wood worth field station has a 

 laboratory as its central structure, complemented 

 by a residence and service buildings. This station 

 is in the critical pothole wetland type, typically 

 interspersed with crop and grazing lands. Water 



fowl product ivity of these lands and compatibility 

 of such use with agricultural interests will be 

 featured in research planned at the station. 

 The main laboratory will he on the Jamestown 



tract. On this area will he residences, a service 



building, a greenhouse, a series of experimental 



ponds, propagation facilities, and other installa- 

 tions required for the extensive research program 

 now getting under way. 



The research program of the Center will follow 

 two main approaches: (1) Fundamental studies 

 id' restricted scope on plant and animal require- 

 ments under controlled conditions in the labora- 

 tory, the greenhouse, ami the Center's ponds and 

 fields; and {■!) practical field studies on Federal 

 refuses and other public land, and on private 

 property where wildlife problems occur. 



The relations between land use and wildlife 

 production, correlated with habitat quality, will l>e 

 given particular attention in the research planned. 



New quarters for Bird and Mammal Sections 

 Early in the year the Bird Section of the Bird 

 and Mammal Laboratories moved to the new easl 



wing of the Natural History Museum. Now 

 stored there is the combined U.S. National 

 Museum-Biological Survey Collection of birds, 

 and there the staffs of the two units operate in 

 proximity and harmony and with increased 

 efficiency. 



Late in 1963 construction began on a new 

 matching west wing of the Museum. The work, 

 immediately adjacent to the Mammal Section in 

 the old building, will provide new quarters on the 

 top floor of the old building where the combined 

 mammal collection and staffs will he housed as 

 soon as the space is ready. 



Machine Data Processing Unit 



Most of the work done at the Migratory Bird 

 Populations Station is dependent on its Machine 

 Data Processing Unit. The Unit plays a vital 

 role in mail-questionnaire and wing-collection 

 surveys, processing of banding data, preparation 

 of reports to band reporters and banders, and 

 preparation of tabulations of data for use in 

 analyzing results of mail-questionnaire and wing- 

 collection surveys and banding data. In per 

 forming these jobs during the year, 750,000 cards 

 wire punched and verified, and over 50 million 

 cards were passed through the sorting machines. 

 Nearly 3 million cards were tabulated and sum- 

 marized. 



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