$-USN 



^2^ 



But Jugt where d') the different birds come from? .Ind '.vhcro do they go? 

 Some birds are disaonci'.ring in certain sections. Others -^re coming in. And 

 reuiember, many of thos^ birds filling the air '."ith r.iusic around your place may 

 also be filling their jfittle ntonachs v;ith the insects th.nt da-iage the crops. 

 Others may be feastin|5 oh j'-our best fruit. Docs this kind need protection? 



There are a thou3<»nd and one questions you might ask. Sone birds at ti:nes 

 arc a liability, Trdfcn by and lar^e, however, the birds of this country, and 

 those that sunv:er here, and nest farther north, and those that nerely pass 

 through are a trenondhusly ir.portant asnet, estimated to be v;orth millions of 

 dollars annually. 



As I said, ttie United States Biological Survey keeps track of the past 

 and present ranges *nd distribution of birds, fror. the totally extinct passenger 

 t)igcon and the gro/itly reduced v/ild turkeys to such newcomers as the fast-spreading 

 starling that was brought here from Europe a fev/ decades ago. 



There are %ome ^00 volunteer bird observers who make regular seasonal 

 reports to the Biological Survey on the different species as they shov up in their 

 comn;unities. •• 7h*jy re-oort the date when the first bird arrives in spring, and when 

 that kind of bi^^d becaiies conr.on. ^at tine the saT.e kind of bird first ap-oeared 

 in other seacon^ji and whether or not it breeds in that section are also noted upon 

 the record. 



From th.e record of these volunteer re-iorts and fror": the literature on the 

 subject, the iistribution of practicall.y all the more than seven hundfed s-oecies 

 has been nap;'»ed, with a separate r.ia-o shov/ing the range of each species in this 

 country and, in many cases, the ran^e over the entire continent. Hany of these 

 reports com-i fron Alaska and Canada and sor.e fror. Ilexico and other countries to 

 the south . 



In Addition to those records, the United States Biological Survey has 

 hundreds ^f thousands of cards recording r-igration re-oorts fron its 1800 authorized 

 bird handlers. 3ach year, these 1800 volunteer ^^orkers are per.r.itted to trap all 

 sorts of birds, place little nu:-:bered alir.in-ji- cuffs or bands on their legs, and 

 then lot them go again, 



This doesn't hurt the bird. The light alu. inborn Tiarker is little if any 

 inconvenience. Very r.any of these banded birds fl"'- a"ay and are never heard of 

 again, ^ 



Each of these bands, however, has upon it the words "Notify U. S. Biological 

 Survey, Washington, D. C." In case anyone finds a banded bird, dead or alive, ho 

 is requested to report the band nM..:bex' an:', the ^lace where the bird was found. 



Naturally, -ar^y of the reports are sent in by hunters who have killed the 

 birds. But the records of the Biological Stirvey contain reoorts of birds that 

 have met their end in Lvan:' peculiar ways. Some are killed by storms, others are 

 killed by automobiles. One sea gull was hilled by a gplf ball. That golfer made 

 a "birdie" all right I 



