BIRD BANDING, THE TELLTALE OF MIGRATORY FLIGHT 



121 



parently, they reverse the movements in 

 the spring. 



SOMF, BIRDS MICRATli AT A TANGENT 



The startHng fact developed by the flight 

 of the banded Ducks from the Bear River 

 Marshes was that many of them go west- 

 erly over the deserts of Nevada and across 

 the Sierra Nevada to winter in CaHfornia ; 

 others move east or southeast across the 

 Rocky Mountains. 



The recovery of banded birds in CaH- 

 fornia in the winter, following their band- 

 ing on the Rear River Marshes, proved 

 that a considerable percentage of the 

 Green-winged Teal, Shovelers, and Pin- 

 tails gathering in the Utah marshes in 

 autumn cross to California to spend the 

 winter. Such cross-country flights to the 

 east and west were previously unsus- 

 pected, and prove that the migrations of 

 many waterfowl do not always follow the 

 more or less definite northerly and south- 

 erl}' routes. 



The autumn flight of banded birds 

 breeding in these marshes appears to be 

 similar to that of the visiting migrants. 



J\Iore than 19,000 Ducks have been 

 banded at various points in the Missis- 

 sippi \'alley, at Lake Scugog, Ontario, 

 and elsewhere. Of these some 4,000 have 

 been taken subsecjuently at many widely 

 scattered localities. It is worthy of note 

 that the returns of banded Ducks vary 

 from about 15 to nearly 20 per cent of the 

 number banded at the different localities. 



A Pintail banded at Ellinwood, Kansas, 

 in March, 1925, was shot in Butte County, 

 California, in December of the same year. 

 A Blue-winged Teal banded at Lake 

 Scugog, Ontario, in September, was shot 

 at Port of Spain, Trinidad Island, oS the 

 coast of South America, 67 days later. 



These returns, combined with those 

 from the Ducks banded on the Bear River 

 Marshes, indicate that each of the impor- 

 tant areas to which wild fowl resort in 

 large numbers in the United States is 

 vitally important to the maintenance of 

 our local supply of these birds, as these 

 central areas serve as distributing reser- 

 voirs for the surrounding States. 



That a single migratory game bird may, 

 as its fancy dictates, sojourn parts of each 

 year in widely separated States makes it 

 evident that State laws alone for the con- 



servation of such species are fruitless and 

 that the Nation must act in the matter. 

 This emphasizes the wisdom of the Mi- 

 gratory Bird Treaty and the Federal laws 

 for the protection of migratory birds. 



ERI-KDING PLACES 01' MIGRATORY WILD 

 FOWL SHOULD BJi SAI'LGUARDED 



i\Iigrating, however, is only one of the 

 doings of birds. They frequently need 

 a meal ; like other creatures, they occa- 

 sionally wish to rest, and unless there is 

 to be race suicide, they must find nesting 

 places. These facts make it clear that the 

 important water areas to which they resort 

 in large numbers must be conserved and 

 perpetuated. Efforts to protect the birds 

 are of little avail if we do not at the same 

 time save sufficient water areas for their 

 present and future welfare. 



Migratory wild fowl are known to breed 

 all across the northern part of the con- 

 tinent and on adjacent islands from Ber- 

 ing Sea to Baffin Bay. Since any adverse 

 conditions affecting them on their breed- 

 ing ground will decrease the numbers 

 that visit us in winter, they must be prop- 

 erly safeguarded there, as well as on their 

 wintering grounds, in order that we may 

 be successful in perpetuating our wild 

 fowl. The banding of wild fowl on their 

 nesting grounds is the only method by 

 which the breeding places of those winter- 

 ing in the different parts of the L^nited 

 States and Mexico can be determined. 



It is a practical certainty that about two- 

 thirds of the wild Ducks and Geese of 

 North America winter in the southern half 

 of the United States and on the Pacific 

 coast. The maintenance of our supply of 

 these birds is dependent upon the practi- 

 cal and effective nature of the measures 

 taken for their conservation. 



BANDING EXPEDITIONS SENT TO BREEDING 

 GROUNDS 



Several years ago the Biological Survey 

 developed a program of sending expedi- 

 tions to important breeding grounds of 

 wild fowl all across the northern part of 

 the continent. It planned to provide, 

 through banding, the knowledge needed 

 as to the origin of the supply of our mi- 

 gratory wild fowl and their dispersal from 

 these points. This information will not 

 only be of the greatest interest to sports- 



