( 177 ) 

 THE "BRITISH BIRDS" MARKING SCHEME.^ 



PROGRESS FOR 1912 AND SOJfB RESULTS. 



BY 



H. F. WITHERBY. 



It is with great pleasure that I have to report that the 

 seventy odd " ringers " in 1912 have again ecUpsed the 

 records of former years by placing no fewer than eleven 

 thousand four hundred and eighty- three rings. The 

 following table shows a remarkable progressive en- 

 thusiasm in the scheme : — 



Number of Birds " Ringed." 



In 1909 

 In 1910 

 In 1911 

 In 1912 



Grand total 



2,171 



7,910 



10,416 



11,483 



.31.980 



As will be seen below Mr. H. W. Robinson again 

 heads the list, and has beaten his former records with 

 the splendid total of two thousand one hundred and 

 seventy-five ; Mr. N. H. Joy again comes second with 

 eleven hundred and nineteen ; Mr. J. Bartholomew and 

 Dr. H. J. Moon each contribute over five hundred, Mr. 

 M. Portal, Miss A. C. Jackson and Mr. J. D. Patterson 

 are all over four hundred, while there are three totals 

 of over three hundred, five of over two hundred, and 

 no less than eleven of one hundred and over. Not only 

 are all these totals most satisfactory, but we must also 

 congratulate ourselves upon an increase in the total 

 number of " ringers." 



Turning now to results : I hope shortly to give some 

 statistics with regard to the recoveries of ringed birds, 

 but this is not possible at present owing to the fact 

 that the inquiry has outgrown the method originalh' 

 adopted of keeping the records, and it has been found 

 necessary to remodel the system entirely. This work, 

 which is now in active progress, has caused a very 



* For the 1911 report, see Vol. V., pp. 158-162. 



