^"^1910^"] Cole, The Tagging of Wild Birds. 165 



have gone South there has been a hill in the "returns," but it is 

 to be hoped, if any of them are so unfortunate as not to survive to 

 visit us next spring, that they will at least arrange to fall into some- 

 one's hands, and that the records may finally come to us. It is an 

 exciting moment when a "return" comes in, and while the banding 

 record for the number is being looked up, and some light is thrown 

 on that particular bird's past history and travels, a story that in 

 most cases has ended as a tragedy. 



And now a few questions of general import should be considered. 

 Many have asked: "But what is going to be the effect of this band- 

 ing work upon the birds ? Is it likely that they will be shot in the 

 hope of securing the bands ? Will not the bands injure their legs, 

 or catch in the nest mateiials, or on twigs ? Will not the handling 

 of the young disturb the nests so that the parents will deSert and 

 abandon their young? These and other objections have been 

 raised, and we must face the questions frankly. As to the first 

 (juestion, that I believe may be answered unreservedly in the nega- 

 tive. So far as the results of this season go, they show that in no 

 case was a bird killed for the purpose of securing the band; in fact, 

 there was no knowledge of the existence of the band until the bird 

 was picked up. In the one case where there might have been such 

 an expectation, we are assured by Mr. Kirkpatrick that he had no 

 thought of the possibiUty of taking a banded bird until he had the 

 Robin in his hand and noticed the band on its leg. By no one 

 would the indiscriminate shooting of birds in the hope of recovering 

 bands be more discountenanced than by those who are interested 

 in this method of investigating bird migration. 



Considering the second question, there appears to be little or no 

 danger of injury to the leg by the bands. In the case of nearly all 

 the "returns" the question has been asked of the finder whether 

 the birds showed any signs of having been incapacitated or incon- 

 venienced by the bands, or whether the legs showed any abrasion or 

 other injury as their result. All the replies received have been in the 

 negative. On the other hand, Mr. Benjamin T. Gault, who banded 

 some Purple Martins and other birds in Du Page Co., 111., reported 

 one case in which a young bird of the former species lost its life as a 

 result of the nesting material becoming entangled in the band, 

 while in several cases it was reported that birds which were at the 



