212 THE BOOK OF MIGRATORY BIRDS 



marks might mean, while it is at least conceivable that a 

 proportion of these marked birds that find their way into 

 somebody's bag are not even noticed. A case of the latter 

 kind was reported not long ago, the writer stating that it 

 was not until the bag was spread out for admiration at the 

 end of the day that someone noticed one of the woodcock 

 had a ring round its leg. 



It is only to be expected that the larger number of 

 woodcock marked on any estate are likely to be killed at 

 or near home, and this has proved to be the case in the 

 experiments conducted at Alnwick. But this does not 

 prove that the birds are chiefly of a stay-at-home disposi- 

 tion. In the immediate neighbourhood of the place where 

 the marking was carried out, it would be fairly well known 

 that such a system was extant, and every keeper or gunner 

 who shot a woodcock would examine it closely to see 

 whether it was a marked bird or not. In places further 

 afield the fact of a marked woodcock being shot might be 

 talked about locally, and possibly someone might com- 

 municate the circumstance to the local paper, but there, 

 very probably, the whole thing might end, unless someone 

 who happened to know all about the marking chanced to 

 hear about it. 



For all these reasons it is to be hoped that in future 

 bird-marking experiments a more comprehensible plan 

 will be adopted, so that whenever a bird is found it may be 

 possible for the finder to get into communication with the 

 marker. In regard to birds in general a system of this 

 kind has been practised for the last year or two by the 

 editors of the journal, British Birds, the name of one of 

 the editors, followed by his London address, being 

 stamped on even the smallest rings. This system leaves 

 nothing to be desired, for everyone knows where London 

 is, and as each ring has a distinctive number the mere 

 return of it to its original source is sufficient to trace the 

 person by whom it was affixed, the kind of bird to which 

 it was attached, and the date of marking, all these par- 

 ticulars being registered in the first instance. It is greatly 



