UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1268 



Washington, D. C. ▼ October 16, 1924 



RETURNS FROM BANDED BIRDS, 1920 to 1923 



By Frederick C. Lincoln, Associate Biologist, Division of Biological 

 Investigations, Bureau of Biological Survey 



CONTENTS 



Page 

 Introduction 1 



Organized activities in bird banding 1 



Regional banding associations 3 



Returns reported to the Biological Survey 4 



Page 



Explanation of tables 5 



Tables of returns 6 



Index 54 



INTRODUCTION 



Trie marking of birds by means of numbered aluminum bands is 

 resulting in the accumulation of information that will be valuable in 

 solving many problems in ornithology. The experiment of Audubon, 

 as long ago as 1803, 1 in banding a brood of phoebes is now well 

 known, while the interesting and valuable results obtained by Dr. 

 Paul Bartsch, in 1902, in his work with black-crowned night herons 

 ill the District of Columbia, 2 and by Dr. John B. Watson, in 1907, 

 with sooty and noddy terns at Dry Tortugas, Fla., 3 have also been 

 detailed in full. 



ORGANIZED ACTIVITIES IN BIRD BANDING 



For the credit of conceiving a broader scope for the banding method 

 credit must be given in this country to P. A. Tavern er and Dr. Leon 

 J. Cole. Mr. Taverner, in 1903, distributed to interested persons a 

 number of hand-made bands bearing the legend notify the auk ny, 

 and a serial number. Comparatively few birds were thus banded, 

 and only one return appears to have been recorded. 4 Through 

 the efforts of Doctor Cole, the New Haven Bird Club in 1908 

 issued a comparatively small series of bands, bearing the legend 

 box z. yale sta. new haven, conn. ; in 1909, the legend was changed 

 to read notify the auk new york. The bands used by the New 



1 Audubon, John James. Ornithological biography, vol. 2, p. 120, 1834. 



1 Bartsch, Paul. Notes on the herons of the District of Columbia: Smiths. Misc. Col., vol. 45, pub no. 

 1419, f|uart. issue, vol. 1, pts. 1 and 2, pp. 104-111, pis. 32-38, 1904. 



' Watson, John B. The behavior of noddy and sooty terns: Pub. 103, Carnegie Inst. Washington, 

 paper 7, pp. 187-225, pis. J-ll, March, 1909. 



f The Auk, vol. 23, p. 232, April, 1906. 



94052°— 24f 1 



