BIRD BANDING, THE TELLTALE OF 

 MIGRATORY FLIGHT 



A Modern Method of Learning the FHght-Ways and 



Habits of Birds 



By E. W. Nelson 



Formerly Chief, Bureau of Biolofiieal Surrey, United States Vepartineul of Agneulturc 



Author of "The I^arcer North American ?iIammals," "Thk vSmaller .Mammals oe North Ami:rica," 



"A Land of Drought and Desert — Lower Caeieornta," etc., in the 



National Geoc-raphic ^L■\GAZINE 



MAN'S interest in lairds began in 

 those far-distant primitive days 

 when an intimate knowledge of 

 all the wild life ajjout him was often his 

 onl}' safeguard against starvation. 



Long before the dawn of history the 

 mystery in the great northerly and south- 

 erly movements each spring and autumn 

 of vast numbers of birds of many kinds 

 keenly interested him and stimidated his 

 imagination. Fantastic theories were built 

 up to account for them and entered into 

 myths and folklore, where some still sur- 

 vive, even in civilized countries. 



For a long period the flights of birds 

 were considered serious portents in the 

 affairs of men and even of nations, and 

 priests and soothsayers used them to awe 

 the multitude and to read the future. 

 Literature abounds in references to bird 

 migrations, and the jioets of the sagas as 

 well as those of more recent times have 

 felt the mystery of these movements and 

 have repeatedly woven them into their 

 writings. 



It has long been known that some of 

 the smaller birds that breed in the north 

 appear in middle latitudes on their re- 

 turn in July. The number of these little 

 voyagers increases in August and the 

 movement is in full tide in September. 

 The hosts of wild fowl linger mainly 

 until October and November, when the 

 frosts of approaching winter in the north 

 send them southward. 



The multitude of Warblers that went 

 northward in spring so gaily bedecked in 

 all the bravery of their nuptial colors 

 come trooping back with their young, all 

 clad in sober hues more fitting their pres- 

 ent prosaic task of making a living oiJ the 



cotmtry, and laying in a goodly supply 

 of fat to help meet any privations winter 

 may hold in store in the warm southern 

 lands they seek. 



ESKIMOS VVLLCOME TIllv COMING OF 

 TIIL BIRDS 



In far northern lands, where untold 

 millions of Ducks and Geese and other 

 wild fowl go to rear their young, the ad- 

 vent, during the last of April or early in 

 jMay, of the first of these birds is the 

 cause of exultant joy to the people. Con- 

 tentment fills their hearts, for the coming 

 of the birds marks the end of the long, 

 cold period of scarcity and the beginning 

 of that part of the year in which food is 

 again plentiful. 



In the old days fur traders in Canada 

 and Alaska rewarded with tobacco the 

 Indian or Eskimo who saw the first 

 Goose winging its way overhead in spring. 

 White men joined with the natives in the 

 jubilant welcome to the newcomer. In 

 four consecutive seasons the writer wit- 

 nessed such arrivals among the Eskimos 

 on the icebound shore of Bering Sea. 



The first comer was always a single 

 Goose. He circled high overhead, sur- 

 veying the snow-mantled region where he 

 and his kind would later rear their young. 

 Each time this "scout" appeared to be as 

 excited at seeing his breeding ground as 

 the people were to see him, and the bird 

 would fill the air with a continuous series 

 of loud, clanging notes, sometimes heard 

 long before he could be seen. 



After viewing the snowy landscape the 

 scout always turned back and disappeared 

 toward the Yukon without alighting and 



91 



