20 THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 



ing has come to stay, and that it will immediately take its place as one 

 of the most important branches of ornithological research. 



To the kindly hospitality and enthusiasm of the Indiana Audubon 

 Society and the Indiana Nature Study Clubs, the happy results of the 

 meeting are largely due. The banding of birds does not in any way in- 

 jure them, and it renders unnecessary to a considerable extent the col- 

 lecting of birdskins for scientific investigation. 



Not All Banded Birds Come from 

 Washington 



A BIRD bearing on its leg a band numbered 231,048 on one side, 

 and stamped " Washington, D. C." on the other, was shot 30 

 miles west of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, on September 15 and the 

 matter written up in an Edmonton paper under the heading " Wash- 

 ington Duck Shot in Alberta." That the bird was banded in Illinois 

 instead of Washington, D. C, however, was learned from the Biological 

 Survey of the United States Department of Agriculture. When the 

 files of that Bureau were consulted they showed that the bird so num- 

 bered was a mallard duck and that it had been banded by an assistant 

 of the Biological Survey at the Sanganois Gun Club, Browning, 111., 

 on November 28, 1922, about ten months previously. The writer of the 

 news article, not knowing the details of the bird-banding activities of the 

 Government at Washington, concluded that the bird had been marked 

 in that city. 



When banded wild birds are found with a serial number and the 

 abbreviation "Biol. Surv." stamped on one side and the abbreviated 

 address "Wash. D. C." on the other, it does not mean that the bird so 

 numbered was hatched in the American capital or that it was turned 

 loose there. All bands bear this address in order that information re- 

 garding their recovery may be mailed to Washington, where, in the cen- 

 tral office of the Biological Survey, records are kept of all birds banded 

 by about 850 co-operators of the bureau stationed in various parts of 

 the country and holding permits to engage in the work of banding. 



Anyone is likely to come across a banded bird which has met with an 

 accident, especially during the fall shooting season. The bands are so 

 small that they can only show the number of the bird and indicate that 

 the Biological Survey should be notified — preferably by mailing the 

 band itself to Washington with information regarding the place and 

 date of its recovery. The sender of the information receives a card in 

 a few days, telling him where and when the bird was actually banded. 

 Public co-operation in the matter is a great aid in studies of the migra- 

 tion of birds. 



