16 THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 



Bird-Banding at Waukegan 



The migration of birds reads like a miracle of nature and most of us 

 accept the theories advanced by our leading ornithologists. Some people, 

 however, are always looking for absolute proof of an idea, so persons of 

 this type conceived the idea of marking birds. Of course Audubon was 

 the first to try it out. He fastened silver wire around the legs of a brood 

 of Phoebes and the following year he observed two in the same vicinity 

 wearing his silver rings. From this beginning the work has advanced, 

 though chiefly in recent years, until now our government has undertaken 

 the work under the guidance of Dr. E. W. Nelson, Chief of the Bureau 

 of Biological Survey. This insures us that we shall have in the near future 

 absolute proof where now we have only conjecture. 



The most interesting account available of bird-banding experiments is 

 that by S. Prentiss Baldwin and published by the Linnaean Society of New 

 York in 1919 under the title of "Bird-banding by means of systematic 

 trapping." I understand that reprints of this article can now be obtained 

 by writing to the Biological Survey at Washington, D. C. Mr. Baldwin 

 began in 1914 by placing bands not only upon young birds in the nest, but 

 upon many adults secured from traps, and in four years had placed nearly 

 1600 bands. He reports having retaken by traps during that time more 

 than sixty of these birds, some of them having been taken not only the 

 second but also the third and fourth years. 



The writer began trapping birds for this same purpose in 1914 and 

 during the intervening years, with the assistance of his son, now seventeen 

 years of age, has had some interesting experiences which parallel in some 

 respects those described by Mr. Baldwin. Up to date we have banded 624 

 birds, some being nestlings but the great majority being full grown birds 

 secured in our traps. Our highest record was that of last year (1920) with 

 a total of 360 birds. The list included 44 Robins, 162 White-throats, 4 

 White-crowns, 55 J uncos, 20 Brown Thrashers, 4 Flickers, 8 Grackles, 6 

 Redwings, 9 Catbirds, 8 Mourning Doves, 19 Towhees, 8 Barn Swallows,- 

 3 Red-headed Woodpeckers, 2 Ovenbirds, and one each of such birds as 

 the Yellow Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Fox Spar- 

 row, and Crow. I have been asked to write up for the Bulletin some 

 of our experiences and I will do this, selecting for that purpose items here 

 and there from our notes. 



First, what is the use of all this work? This question is often asked. 

 The answer is that the data secured is furnishing convincing replies to im- 

 portant inquires such as the following : 



Do birds return to the same nesting place ? Ans. A Flicker was caught 

 in a hole in an apple tree on our lawn, May 7, .1915, and band No. 34057 

 fastened to its leg. On May 27, 1916, this same bird was trapped in the 

 very same hole, this time with five young. 



Do young birds return to their birthplace? Ans. A Robin banded in 

 its nest in our yard before it could fly on May 17, 1918, with the number 

 42790 on its band, was trapped in our yard, April 6, 1920, just 200 feet 

 from where it was born. We hope to trap it again. Another robin banded 

 July 21, 1917, was killed by a cat in June, 1919, less than a mile from its 

 birthplace. 



