178 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. vi. 



considerable extra expense, but no less elaborate system 

 could be devised with so many separate records to deal 

 A\ ith, and it is above all necessary that the records should 

 be accessible and correct. I may here again tliank those 

 Avho have contributed towards the expenses, but, as 

 these are now necessarily considerable, I hope that 

 further subscriptions will be forthcoming, so that the 

 scheme may not be handicapped for lack of funds. 



Although the proportion of recoveries seems on the 

 A\hole fairly satisfactory, the recoveries of small birds 

 ringed in the nest are still, and I am afraid always 

 will be, disappointingly few. The mortality among birds 

 immediately after they leave the nest and before they can 

 fly properly must necessarily be enormous, and conse- 

 quently, as most of the birds ringed are nestlings, the 

 number A\hich reach the age say of two months, must 

 be small in comparison with the number ringed. For this 

 reason much better results are to be obtained by ringing 

 adults, and I sincerely hope that more of our '' ringers " 

 will adopt the methods so successfully practised by Mr. 

 N. H. Joy, of catching birds in cage-traps.* I should 

 also much like to see more of the cliff-breeding birds 

 ringed as we really know little about their movements, 

 and this might be done in place of Black-headed Gulls 

 of which we have I think ringed nearly sufficient to 

 obtain a good idea of their movements. 



Attention may here be drawn to a few of the most 

 interesting and striking recoveries reported during the 

 year, but I must warn the reader that these records are 

 only mentioned for their individual interest and must 

 not be regarded as necessarily typical of the species 

 concerned. 



The two most striking long-distance records are the 

 Black-headed Gull, ringed as a nestling in Yorkshire in 

 July, I9I1, being found in Flores, Azores, in February, 

 11)12, and the Starling ringed in Berkshire in January, 



* Forinstructionsforcaptiiring birds to ring, see Dr. C J?. Ticchurst's 

 article in Vol. IV., p. 236. 



