1923] STODDARD, LOCAL BIRD NOTES 123 



yards, repeating this three or four times until he considered himself 

 out of the danger zone. Then he came out on the bank to dry off. 

 This habit has been previously recorded but is seldom witnessed. 



Some maj^ inquire how so much time could be devoted to work of 

 this nature, in fact "lack of time" is the excuse given by many well 

 qualified persons for not actively assisting in the work. In our case 

 it has never interfered in the least with regular work. All trapping 

 with the nets at the robin roost has been carried on late at night, when 

 the parks are deserted. Work with the shorebirds and Swallows, and 

 the banding of nestlings, was done Saturday afternoons, Sundays and 

 holidays. Five hundred bands were placed, and now, that satisfac- 

 tory methods have been devised, much greater success is assured. 



Four employees of the Museum now hold bird-banding permits, 

 while one or two others are becoming interested. Banding stations 

 are being started in various parts of the state, including one at the 

 University of Wisconsin. 



S. Prentiss Baldwin of Cleveland has, by banding, lifted the veil 

 of secrecy from the life of our little friend the House Wren, studying 

 their relationships through several generations, and incidentally ex- 

 posing much divorce and other choice scandal in their domestic life! 



W. I. Lyon of Waukegan, the most active bander of the Inland dis- 

 trict, handles over four thousand birds yearly, most of which probably 

 pass through the Milwaukee region on their journeys to and from the 

 north. As stations increase in number, some of these birds will un- 

 doubtedly be retrapped in various places, showing the speed with 

 which the little migrants travel and the routes they take. 



Besides its great scientific possibilities, banding has all the lure 

 and fascination of bird photography, for it satisfies man's natural, in- 

 stinctive, desire to outwit his fellow creatures and to pry into the 

 secrets of their lives and habits without injuring them in any way. 



LOCAL BIRD NOTES 



By Herbert L. Stoddard^" 



The odor of frying bacon, an occasional night in the open under 

 the stars, the pleasure of banding, photographing or studying birds, 

 and the ever present possibility of meeting some that are rare or un- 

 usual and desired for the Museum's collection, are sufficient incentive 

 for the week-end field trips which members of the Department of 

 Taxidermy make with more or less regularity throughout the year. 



^oAssociate Taxidermist, Milwaukee Public Museum. 



