364 BRITISH BIRDS. 



marked in this way every autumn. Huge flocks of these 

 birds pass along the Nehrung at this season, and large 

 numbers are ingeniously netted — and bitten to death (!) — 

 by the Rossitten natives, who preserve them for winter 

 food. Many of the birds thus caught uninjured are not 

 killed, but are sold alive to the Vogelwarte for marking 

 and liberation. About 8 per cent, of these marked Crows 

 are killed or recaptured by persons who send them, or 

 the rings and feet, or at least notice of the capture, to 

 Rossitten. This proportion of returns is far larger than 

 was originally expected, and it will probably come as 

 a surprise to many. The only other figures I have seen 

 are those quoted on p. 246 of this volume of British 

 Birds : the returns for a species so much shot as the 

 Woodcock are shown to be scarcely more than 5 per cent. 

 The insufficient " address " given on the rings in that case 

 must, however, be taken into account. It must also be 

 remembered that on the Continent the Hooded Crow has 

 almost the status of a " game bird," shooting Crows 

 decoyed by a captive Eagle-Owl being a recognised and 

 popular form of sport. 



To show the value of bird-marking I conclude by giving 

 short summaries of the results obtained at Rossitten in 

 the case of a few species, beginning with the Hooded 

 Crow (Corvus comix). 



The places from which these Crows, marked while 

 stopping on migration at Rossitten, have been again 

 recorded, lie within a broad belt of country extending from 

 southern Finland and the St. Petersburg district of 

 Russia, southwards through Livonia and Courland to 

 Rossitten, and then westwards, still bounded on one side 

 by the Baltic, through northern Germany, and ter- 

 minating in the north-eastern corner of France (Solesmes). 

 The most northerly point from which one of these marked 

 birds has been recorded is Wiisala, in the Government 

 of St. Michel, Finland (April 20th, 1907 : liberated 

 October 1 2th, 1905). From a large number of records 

 I select, as fairly representative of the whole series, those 



