April, ]1>21. 



The Caxadiax Field-Naturalist, 



79 



turn to ne.st near tiie haunts wliere tliey 

 learned to fly. 



"This occurred early in t^ie nineteenth 

 century, and was tihe first known case 

 in America of l)ird banding. Since that 

 time this means of securing information 

 on the movements and life history of 

 migratory birds has been used by many 

 societies, and every fall thousands of bircls 

 fly south bearing a narrow ring, stamped 

 with a number, about one of its legs. 



*'So valuable is this work, especiaJly 

 with game and insectivorous species of 

 birds, that in 1920 the United Stales De- 

 Ijartment of Agriculture took over the 

 experiments being conducted by the Am- 

 erican Bird Banding Association, the so- 

 ciety's work having outgrown its avail- 

 able resources. Since it is the returns 

 from bird banding that f urnisili the data 

 desired in this branch of research, it is 

 of prime importance that the methods 

 employed be improved and that the per- 

 centage of birds under observation be 

 increased. To assist co-operators in this 

 work, the department has published De- 

 partment Circular 170, Instructions for 

 Bird Banding, which is just available for 

 distribution. 



"It is the plan of the Biological Sur- 

 vey of the department, which is super- 

 vising the bird-banding work, to advance 

 this method of research along two prin- 

 cipal lines: first, the banding of fledg- 

 lings as formerly practiced ; and second, 

 the systematic trapping and banding of 

 adult birds. As the banding of fledglings 

 ilias the advantage of affording valuable 

 information on tjie ages of birds, the 

 survey wishes to encourage these activ- 

 ities, but it desires to lay special emphasis 

 on the added value of the systematic 

 trapping of adults. 



"\Vitli the establishment of a well- 

 connected chain of trapping stati(»ns 

 throughout the United States and Canada, 

 regular 'returns' are confidently expec- 

 ted by department specialists witii reports 

 of retrapping birds that had been banded 

 at the original and other stations. Data 

 thus afforded are already indicating the 

 exact lines of migi'ation of individual 

 birds, t/ie speed of travel, and innumer- 

 able items of interest, man\- of which 

 have a direct bearing upon the study of 



life histories and tihe administration of 

 the Migratory Bird Treaty Act with 

 which the Depai-tment is charged. 



"The department issues bands of two 

 types to co-operators in the work. One 

 type is the split ring band for all small 

 birds, and the other is the flat strip 

 band that is adjustable for all large bii-ds. 

 For general land-bird trapping t^ie so- 

 called Government 'sparrow trap' has 

 l>een found the most satisfactory'. The 

 bulletin contains details of con.struction 

 of this trap. It also discusses other 

 methods of trapi)ing, the operation of 

 traps, handling and releasing birds, and 

 filling out reports. P'ederal trapping per- 

 mits for this work are required under 

 the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Appli- 

 cations for permits and requests for the 

 bulletin should be addres.sed to the Bu- 

 reau of Biological Survey. Department of 

 Agriculture, Washington, D.C." 



In Canada, applications for permits to 

 carry on this work sihould be made to 

 the Commissioner, Canadian National 

 Parks, Department of the Interior. Ot- 

 tawa. Persons holding federal permits 

 lo take birds for scientific purposes re- 

 (luire no other permit. It would be 

 needless duplication for records of band- 

 ing to be kept in the U. S. and Canada, 

 as the birds do not respect our boundary- 

 in their migration ; con.sequently the rec- 

 ords for the continent are beinor kept 

 at Washington. 



Problems that Can be Solved by 

 Bird Banding. 



1. How fa-i do the individuals of any 

 species travel on their periodic migra- 

 tions; that is. how many miles per day 

 will any one bird average during these 

 journeys and what is the total time con- 

 sumed in a trip? 



2. Does any one flock continue in the 

 van or is the advance made by successive 

 flocks passing one over the other in al- 

 ternate periods of rest and flight ? 



3. Do individuals of any species always 

 follow the same route, and is it identical 

 for both spring and fall flights? 



4. Do migrating birds make the same 

 stop-overs every jrear to feed? 



5. How long do birds remain in one 



