﻿BIED 
  BANDING 
  LINCOLN" 
  351 
  

  

  Foremost 
  among 
  these 
  investigations 
  is 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  house 
  wren 
  

   {Troglodytes 
  cedon) 
  that 
  is 
  being 
  conducted 
  by 
  S. 
  Prentiss 
  Baldwin 
  

   at 
  his 
  research 
  laboratory 
  near 
  Cleveland, 
  Ohio. 
  This 
  work, 
  which 
  

   has 
  been 
  carried 
  on 
  for 
  five 
  or 
  six 
  years, 
  promises 
  to 
  be 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  

   most 
  detailed 
  studies 
  ever 
  made 
  for 
  a 
  passerine 
  bird. 
  For 
  the 
  past 
  

   two 
  or 
  three 
  years 
  Mr. 
  Baldwin 
  (1921) 
  and 
  his 
  associates 
  have 
  pub- 
  

   lished 
  but 
  little 
  of 
  the 
  results 
  that 
  have 
  been 
  obtained, 
  although 
  the 
  

   work 
  has 
  been 
  greatly 
  expanded 
  and 
  has 
  involved 
  the 
  employment 
  of 
  

   special 
  assistants 
  and 
  much 
  delicate 
  apparatus. 
  The 
  genealogies 
  of 
  

   the 
  house 
  wrens 
  breeding 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  have 
  been 
  worked 
  out 
  with 
  

   much 
  care, 
  while 
  many 
  data 
  have 
  been 
  collected 
  relative 
  to 
  periods 
  

   of 
  courtship, 
  nest 
  building, 
  intervals 
  between 
  deposition 
  of 
  eggs, 
  in- 
  

   cubation 
  periods, 
  activities 
  of 
  parents 
  during 
  incubation 
  (Baldwin, 
  

   1927), 
  length 
  of 
  time 
  spent 
  in 
  nests 
  by 
  young 
  birds, 
  second 
  broods, 
  

   and 
  other 
  items. 
  

  

  Among 
  the 
  Fringillidce 
  are 
  four 
  or 
  five 
  species 
  that 
  merit 
  special 
  

   attention 
  because 
  of 
  their 
  quick 
  response 
  to 
  the 
  trapping 
  methods 
  

   generally 
  employed. 
  The 
  song 
  sparrow 
  (Melospisa 
  melodia) 
  easily 
  

   ranks 
  first 
  as 
  shown 
  by 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  more 
  than 
  13,000 
  have 
  been 
  

   banded. 
  This 
  species 
  is 
  plentiful 
  in 
  the 
  regions 
  where 
  trapping 
  sta- 
  

   tions 
  are 
  concentrated, 
  thus 
  facilitating 
  cooperative 
  work 
  to 
  determine 
  

   the 
  extent 
  of 
  local 
  ranges 
  and 
  migratory 
  movements. 
  Through 
  these 
  

   activities 
  it 
  is 
  learned 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  an 
  interchange 
  of 
  individuals, 
  

   the 
  winter 
  birds 
  moving 
  on 
  and 
  their 
  places 
  being 
  taken 
  by 
  arrivals 
  

   from 
  other 
  sections. 
  Song 
  sparrows 
  repeat 
  regularl}^, 
  so 
  a 
  close 
  check 
  

   may 
  be 
  maintained 
  on 
  their 
  actions. 
  A 
  statistical 
  analysis 
  of 
  such 
  

   data 
  obtained 
  at 
  one 
  station 
  has 
  been 
  published 
  by 
  Rudyerd 
  Boulton 
  

   and 
  John 
  T. 
  Nichols 
  (1925). 
  

  

  Studies 
  of 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  plumages 
  constitute 
  a 
  phase 
  of 
  the 
  

   work 
  that 
  has 
  a 
  direct 
  appeal 
  to 
  many 
  operators. 
  The 
  first 
  of 
  these 
  

   to 
  be 
  undertaken 
  was 
  by 
  Michael 
  J. 
  Magee, 
  who 
  has 
  already 
  published 
  

   (1924) 
  a 
  preliminary 
  report 
  of 
  his 
  observations 
  on 
  the 
  plumage 
  of 
  

   the 
  purple 
  finch 
  {Carpodacus 
  p. 
  purpureus). 
  In 
  his 
  study 
  of 
  this 
  

   species, 
  more 
  than 
  4,000 
  individuals 
  have 
  been 
  banded 
  which 
  have 
  

   yielded 
  250 
  returns 
  at 
  his 
  own 
  station, 
  together 
  with 
  thousands 
  of 
  

   repeat 
  records. 
  His 
  notes 
  definitely 
  trace 
  the 
  plumage 
  from 
  the 
  

   juvenile 
  stage 
  through 
  the 
  changes 
  up 
  to 
  adults 
  3 
  or 
  4 
  years 
  old. 
  

   It 
  has 
  been 
  found 
  that 
  most, 
  if 
  not 
  all, 
  males 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  do 
  not 
  

   acquire 
  the 
  full 
  crimson 
  plumage 
  until 
  they 
  are 
  2 
  years 
  old, 
  and 
  

   even 
  then 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  the 
  richly 
  colored 
  plumage 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  male, 
  

   which 
  is 
  apparently 
  not 
  acquired 
  by 
  birds 
  less 
  than 
  4 
  years 
  old. 
  

  

  Pacific 
  coast 
  stations 
  are 
  making 
  similar 
  investigations 
  concern- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  plumage 
  of 
  the 
  house 
  finch 
  {Carpodacus 
  m. 
  frontalis) 
  and 
  the 
  

   Gstnbel 
  sparrg-^ 
  {Zonotrichia 
  I. 
  gamheli), 
  while 
  others 
  in 
  Eastern 
  

  

  