104 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ^lAGAZIXE 



riiotografjh by P. Kuntz 



A MKDLEY OF BIRD POSliS 



The friendly confidence of birds about a banding station is well indi- 

 cated by the Pine Grosbeak and Goldfincli feeding together on an 

 operator's hand. A Cliiinney Swift, hke the one lying hypnotized in 

 the center picture, returned to tlie station where it was first banded and 

 was recaptured there for eight jears. The bird in the lower illustra- 

 tion is a Ruby-throated Humming Bird that has been banded, and is 

 lying quietly in the open palm before t.aking flight. 



an ardent protectionist 

 is typical. At first she 

 op|josed banding as 

 likely to he dangerous 

 to the hirds. As her in- 

 terest increased, how- 

 ever, she began trap- 

 ping and handing, with 

 the result that she is 

 now convinced of the 

 harmlessness of the 

 operation. 



During his b i r d- 

 l)anding operations Mr. 

 Baldwin (see text, page 

 95) has handled trap- 

 ped birds more than 

 40,000 times, and has 

 had only four or five 

 accidents. 



The constant recap- 

 ture of the same birds 

 indicates that they do 

 not consider the traps 

 dangerous. In fact, 

 the persistence with 

 which certain individ- 

 uals reenter traps in 

 search of food might 

 raise doubts in the 

 minds of the moralists 

 as to the dangers of 

 pauperizing our feath- 

 ered friends by the 

 varied and appetizing 

 banquets always to be 

 had within the traps. 

 Certainly lite is made 

 easy for a varied host 

 of birds at nearly 1,200 

 places of entertain- 

 ment in this country. 



BUTCHER BIRDS MO- 

 LKST TRAPS 



With the possible ex- 

 ception of the house 

 cat, the Shrike, or 

 Butcher Bird, is per- 

 haps the most danger- 

 ous enemy of birds in 

 and about traps at 

 banding stations. The 

 Common Shrike in the 

 United States is a 

 beautiful bird, with 



