18 THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 



Securing Life Stories by Banding Birds 



The use of numbered aluminum bands that are supplied by 

 the U. S. Biological Survey for bird banding has proved some 

 of Mr. Robin's family relations, and his repeated visits show 

 how little fear he has of man. 



On June, 1920, a full grown Robin was caught in a trap and 

 band number 57617 placed on his leg. On his release he flew 

 to a tree near by to examine his bright new ring, then flew away 

 and was not seen or caught in any of those traps again that 

 year. 



He must have followed the migration to the southland to 

 stay for the winter and as the warmer weather of the spring ap- 

 proached he journeyed slowly northward until he had complet- 

 ed his trip of a thousand or more miles back to his home town. 

 Immediately on his arrival he went right back into the very 

 same trap and was caught on March 31, 1921, for the bright 

 little band with his number 57617 proved that he was the 

 identical bird that had been there last year. 



During the next ten days the same Robin was caught five 

 times and each time in a different trap. 



On May 10 a good looking Mother Robin was caught in the 

 original trap, and when she went away she wore band number 

 18030. A few minutes later Mr. Robin 57617 was caught again 

 in the same trap and released as soon as his number was read. 

 Little was it suspected that Mother Robin 18030 was his wife. 

 Mr. Robin 57617 was caught five more times in the traps du- 

 ring the next three weeks, and it is suspected that he was in 

 the open traps for his meals many times when there was no 

 one around to catch him. 



During the trapping season a pair of Robins built their nest 

 in a shelter within one hundred feet of all the traps, which 

 made them appear to be some of the old friends, so a Robin 

 shelter trap nest was built, and when the young birds were about 

 half grown the old shelter was taken down and the nest with 

 the young birds placed in the new shelter which was attached 

 to the same spot in the tree. The old birds came soon and ex- 

 amined the nest. They knew something was wrong, and scolded 

 and looked for a few minutes, but there were three mouths 

 wide open begging for food in such an expressive manner that 

 the old birds could not resist the appeal and were soon at work 

 satisfying their offspring. 



The next morning one end of a string was attached to the 

 movable front porch of the trap, nest and the other end taken 

 behind a bush some distance away to await the return of the 

 parents. When the mother bird came to feed the young a quick 

 tug on the string closed the door. On examining the bird it 

 was found to be the good looking Mother Robin 18030. A few 



