BIRD BANDING, THE TELLTALE OF AIIGRATORY FLIGHT 



131 



often in broad daylight. Formerly, when 

 lighthouses cast steady beams of dazzling 

 light athwart the sky, migrating birds 

 dashed against the glass of the lights and 

 perished in large numbers. This source 

 of mortality seems largely to have disap- 

 peared in recent years, since the continu- 

 ous light has been replaced in many in- 

 stances b}' a series of temporary flashes. 



To these dangers may be added the 

 recurring periods of scanty food supply 

 and the never-ending depredations of 

 their bird and mammal foes, including 

 man in the case of game species. Pollu- 

 tion of waters by various means and other 

 man-made death traps also take their toll. 

 With the multiplication of swiftly moving 

 automobiles, enormous numbers of small 

 birds haunting the highways in some dis- 

 tricts are stricken down and their pitiful 

 bodies lie flattened in the dust. 



CIVILIZATION AFFECTS THE BIRD 

 POPULATION 



It is comforting to know, however, that 

 civilized man is appreciating bird life as 

 never before and is throwing about the 

 harmless or useful species the protection 

 of the law. Furthermore, in the United 

 States, Canada, and some other countries 

 refuges, which already cover many mil- 

 lions of acres of forest and other lands, 

 are being established in increasing num- 

 bers. In winter food and shelter are be- 

 ing provided, especially in times of stress, 

 on a growing scale. 



As a consequence of the changed con- 

 ditions of the country through the clear- 

 ing of primeval forests and the modern 

 protection afforded birds in the United 



States, it is safe to say that there are now 

 more small birds in North America than 

 at an)- previous time in our history. On 

 the other hand, our migratory wild fowl 

 will never again equal the vast swarms 

 that existed in the early days before enor- 

 mous areas of water and marshlands were 

 drained. 



With so many opportunities to have 

 little aluminum records carried by winged 

 messengers to distant places, bird banding 

 should invite the attention of all expedi- 

 tions to the Far North and of research 

 stations in regions where wild fowl, espe- 

 cially Ducks, Geese, and waders, breed in 

 large numbers. 



Capturing and banding of such of the 

 breeding waterfowl and their young as 

 winter in southern latitudes should also 

 ofl^er an interesting variation to the fre- 

 quently monotonous everyday routine. 

 Some of the banded birds would undoubt- 

 edly be taken later in lower latitudes, thus 

 bringing word to the public of those in 

 remote northern climes and adding valu- 

 able facts to our knowledge of the travels 

 of feathered wanderers. 



The Biological Survey will take pleas- 

 ure in cooperating with sportsmen or 

 future northern travelers who may be in- 

 terested in this work. It will see that 

 they are provided with necessary instruc- 

 tions, numbered aluminum bands, and 

 other small equipment. If bird banding 

 had been developed years ago, we might 

 now have many precious records brought 

 bv birds from places in the Arctic regions 

 visited by Greely, Peary, and other ex- 

 plorers. 



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