104 AMERICAN SQUAB CULTURE 



The plan of having three colors to each pen uses up the 

 various colors very fast, which is about the only objection to 

 this plan, but as the only advantage to be gained by having 

 different colors for different pens is to be able to lell what pen 

 a bird came from in case it should get loose. I do not consider 

 that offsets the advantage of the three colors to the pen system. 



Besides, the pen a bird comes from can generally be told when 

 a bird gets out as it will invariably be found close to the pen 

 that it came from, and even with a large plant, birds banded 

 with white, pink or dark blue, for instance, would be quite a 

 ways from other birds banded with one of these colors. Then 

 if there is any doubt a search could be made to see if the bird 

 with that band number and color and of the same sex was in 

 or missing from a pen. 



About the best way to band birds according to pairs is to wait 

 until they start work. A female will be found on the nest early 

 in the morning or late in the afternoon except when she is laying 

 when she might be found on the nest any time. The male will 

 be found on the nest during the middle of the day. 



When a bird is banded, mark the number of its band on the 

 nest box in a conspicuous place. W^ith a letter signify the color 

 of the band after the number, "w," for white, "p" for pink, and 

 "b" for blue, etc. Then, if it is a female, make a dash following 

 the letter, and if a male that is banded, signify the same by a 

 straight up and down mark after the number. When both 

 birds have been banded, the dash and straight up and down 

 mark will form a cross. 



By this method you can look in the nest room and see at a 

 glance which birds are banded, which are not, and if a female 

 is banded and you are there in the morning you will know that 

 it is a female by the dash following the number and letter and 

 it will not be necessary to bother the bird or catch it to see which 

 leg it is banded on. The same is true if a male is on the nest, 

 and your marking shows that male has been banded. 



When one bird of a pair is banded take the other correspond- 

 ing band and hang it on a wire in front of the nest room ready 

 for use. Then you can tell by looking at the bands on the wire 

 just how many birds yet unhanded. 



With my nest room plan there is an aisle between the nest 

 room and fly pen and a wire partition between the nest room 



