BIRD BANDING, THE TELLTALE OF MIGRATORY FLIGHT 



123 



men and conservationists, Init will form 

 the basis for far more intelligent work for 

 conserving these birds than now is pos- 

 siljle. 



The first expedition was a cooperative 

 one organized by the Biological Survey in 

 1924 to visit the tundra about the head of 

 Hooper Bay, Alaska, immediately south of 

 the delta of the Yukon River. The ex- 

 pedition was led by O. J. Murie, a field 

 naturalist of the Biological Survey. The 

 party included two other naturalists, H. 

 W. Brandt, of Cleveland, and H. B. Con- 

 over, of the Field Museum of Natural 

 History, Chicago, and was joined in the 

 field by Frank Dufresne. of the Biologi- 

 cal Survey. They reached Fairbanks on 

 IMarch 18 and soon after, with three sleds 

 and dog teams, traveled to their destina- 

 tion across 700 miles of snow-covered 

 country. This trip required hard work, 

 but was accomplished without other mis- 

 haps than a temporary attack of snow- 

 blindness suffered by two of the members. 



ARCTIC BANDINGS YIELD SIGNIFICANT 

 RETURNS 



The party assembled May I at Hooper 

 Bay, on the broad, treeless tundra border- 

 ing the coast of Bering Sea, to await ar- 

 rival of the wild fowl. At first a belt of 

 shore ice lay along the coast, but as it 

 broke up the northward migration of vast 

 numbers of wild fowl passing near the 

 mouth of the bay was the expedition's 

 most thrilling experience. This district 

 had never been visited before by natural- 

 ists during the breeding season, although 

 it was first explored and mapped by the 

 writer during the winter of 1879 (see 

 page 127). 



As anticipated, it proved to be a mar- 

 velous gathering place for breeding wild 

 fowl in great variety. Cackling and Em- 

 peror Geese aljounded, but the White- 

 fronted species was found sparingly. 

 Whistling Swans, several species of Eider 

 and other Ducks, with many kinds of 

 waders, including Golden Plover, Pacific 

 Godwits, Long-billed Dowitchers, and too 

 many others to mention, kept the party 

 at high tension amid the amazing numljer 

 and variety of songs and maneuvers which 

 endow these northern breeding places with 

 the most intense interest through the mat- 



The banding of the Ducks and Geese 

 Ijy this party was the first attempt of the 

 kind on one of the great northern breed- 

 ing grounds, and the percentage of these 

 birds taken on their southward journey 

 during the following autumn and winter 

 exceeded all expectations. Of three spe- 

 cies of Geese, 21 3 were caught and banded, 

 in addition to nearly 50 Ducks, and vari- 

 ous other birds. 



Of these, 153 were Cackling Geese. This 

 is a very small geographic race of the 

 well-known "Honker" ( Canada, or Wild 

 Goose), whose clanging notes, as their V- 

 shapjed flocks pass high overhead in the 

 migrations, are so familiar to many in the 

 eastern United States. Thirty-nine were 

 killed within a few months and the bands 

 sent to the Pjiological Survey. 



Their ca])ture clearly indicates their 

 line of flight and wintering grounds. The 

 first was re])orted from the Ugashik River, 

 emptying into Bristol Bay, Alaska. The 

 next came from more than 1,200 miles 

 away across the open sea on one of the 

 Queen Charlotte Islands, British Colum- 

 bia. Another was taken on the Copalis 

 Beach in Washington, others in Oregon, 

 and then a consideraI)le number in Cali- 

 fornia, where most of these birds appear 

 to winter in the marshes of the Sacra- 

 mento and San Joaquin Valleys. A 

 White-fronted Goose banded on July 15 

 was taken January i at Sutter, California. 

 Banded Pintails were also taken in central 

 California. 



Such gratifying returns from this first 

 bird-l)anding ex]3edition in the north gave 

 strong encouragement to further efforts 

 of the kind. 



Expedition sent to yukon boundary 



Many years ago, when Thomas Riggs. 

 later Governor of Alaska, was in charge 

 of the International Boundary Survey be- 

 tween Canada and Alaska, he found many 

 Geese breeding in the flat valley of the 

 Old Crow River, near where it crosses 

 the boundary, about halfway between the 

 Arctic Circle and the Arctic coast. This 

 area, never visited by a naturalist, afforded 

 another opportunity for work in practi- 

 cally new country, where bird banding on 

 a considerable scale might be done. 



In the spring of 1926, the Biological 

 Survey detailed Mr. Murie to visit the 



