BIRD BANDING, THE TELLTALE OF MIGRATORY FLIGHT 



125 



Photograph from U. S. Biological Survey 



YOUNG CASPIAN TF.RNS CORRALP.D TOR BANDING 



This "haul" netted more than 700 birds. Returns from birds banded at this station in 

 northern Lake Michigan have been received from as far south as Colombia and as far north as 

 Nova Scotia. 



shows in a diagrammatic way a few of 

 the points where thousands of Ducks of 

 various species have heen banded and some 

 of the points at which they have been sub- 

 secjuently taken. This evidence and addi- 

 tional facts of the same character ob- 

 tained in this way strongly indicate that 

 the birds of either the western or the 

 eastern area might be practically extermi- 

 nated without seriously interfering with 

 the supply of l)irds in the other regions. 

 This discovery is of the utmost impor- 

 tance in the development of the necessary 

 conservation measures for perpetuating 

 our wild fowl. 



The numlier of returns of bands on 

 birds found dead indicates the perilous 

 existence of these haljitants of field and 

 forest. To the casual observer the birds' 

 active movements, their songs and cheer- 

 ful call notes, give the impression of a 

 joyous life; yet birds live in the midst of 

 deadly perils coming from many sources, 

 and the mortality among them is enor- 

 mous. In spite of many widespread dis- 

 asters, however, the survivors appear to 



repopulate the stricken areas within a few 

 seasons with their normal c^uota of bird 

 Hfe. 



STORMS DESTROY MANY BIRDS 



Unseasonably cold storms during mi- 

 grations probably destroy more individ- 

 uals than an)- other single cause. Oppor- 

 tunity is occasionally presented for ob- 

 serving their effects on bird life. Dr. T. 

 S. Roberts made a careful survey follow- 

 ing a spring snowstorm in Minnesota and 

 North Dakota, and found that vast num- 

 bers of Lapland I^ongspurs had perished 

 there on their northern migration. Se- 

 vere blizzards in the Middle East some- 

 times catch a host of Bluebirds and other 

 small species on their way north. 



Following such storms, holes in trees 

 and nesting boxes are sometimes found 

 full of the dead bodies of the little victims 

 that have tried to get shelter and have 

 perished from the cold. 



Telegraph and telephone wires and 

 other obstacles kill great numbers of birds, 

 which fly into them not only at night but 



