472 ANNUAL KEPOET SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1913. 



is a host in himself and loses no opportunity to put his bands to good 

 use while ranging over his territory. In a letter dated June 25, 

 1912, Mr. Saunders says: 



I was recently told of an incident of a marked bird returning to the place 

 where it was born, and got as many of the facts as possible, as I believe they 

 will be of interest to the association. The incident was told me by Mr. E. A. 

 Woods, a forest ranger on the Lewis and Clark National Forest, and while this 

 information comes second hand, I believe it is correct. A lady living near 

 Mountain View, Alberta, just north of the United States boundary, found the 

 nest of a Canada goose and hatched out the eggs under a hen. The young geese 

 lived in the barnyard that summer, and one was marked by fastening a bell 

 around its neck. In the fall, when a flock of migrating geese flew over, the 

 geese left the barnyard, and joined this flock. Two years later, in the spring, 

 the goose wearing the bell returned and stopped iu' the barnyard for a few days. 



Mr. Ernest Harold Baynes, of Meriden, N. H., is one of the most 

 energetic and faithful bandei's at present engaged in the work, not- 

 withstanding his many other activities. He tells of a flock of 125 

 white-winged crossbills that fed near his home last winter. The 

 birds were so tame that Mr. Baynes had but to stoop and pick them 

 up when he wished to place bands on their legs. Members of the 

 Meriden Bird Club have put up many nesting boxes for chickadees, 

 bluebirds, etc., and numbers of these small birds have been banded. 

 Indeed, it goes without saying that any bird that falls into the hands 

 of Mr. Baynes wears a ring on its leg when released. 



Mr. Harrison F. Lewis, of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, is another who 

 has accomplished much in the matter of banding the smaller birds. 

 Mr. Lewis told me that when the school children living in the coun- 

 try near him heard of his banding work they all set out to find birds' 

 nests and report them to him. Thus a double end was accomplished — 

 Mr. Lewis was enabled to band dozens of birds without spending 

 much of his own valuable time in looking for nests, and, best of all, 

 the children of the countryside suddenly took a rousing interest in 

 bird life, although perhaps unwittingly. Wliat these children were 

 really keen about was to watch the placing of the tiny aluminum 

 bands on the birds' legs, but to locate the young birds the nests had 

 to be found and in order to find the nests it was necessary to follow 

 the movements and watch the habits of the old birds. It is often 

 difficult to induce children simply to observe things if they think you 

 are trying to make them acquire some knowledge by doing so, but here 

 was a new idea, a material end to be accomplished — something to do. 

 There is no reason why the work of banding birds should not work 

 a similar miracle among adults — it adds a vigorous interest to bird 

 study; arouses latent interest; or even preserves interest when it 

 tends to wane. 



These few cases of the activities of field agents are cited as exam- 

 ples of what hundreds of ornithologists should be doing throughout 

 the continent of North America. Bird banding is not the work of a 



