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That accounts for the serious sit\iation 'vith ref^ard to destructive "birds 

 on the Pacific Coast. In California, the linnet or house finch does more than 

 a million dollars worth of damage a year by eating buds and fruit l And that 

 is just one kind of bird. Horned larks do almost as much damage by destroying 

 seedlings of vegetable crops as linnets do to fruit. Snarrows add to the 

 destruction. Blackbirds and coots do heavy damage to the California rice crop. 

 In fact the bird situation is so serious in that State, that last year the 

 Biological Survey put tv/o investigators to work studying conditions and find- 

 ing ways to control the damage. 



You see, in this matter of either Tjrotecting wild life or of keeping it 

 in control, we need to know the "personal" habits of the birds and animals. 

 !7ith birds here to-day and gone to-morrow, it is highly important to know 

 their behavior and just what conditions they find at other stop-overs along 

 their route, and especially the condition where they nest. 



Last year, bird-banding cooperators of the Biological Survey banded more 

 than 169,000 birds. Since this work was started about eleven years ago, they 

 have banded nearly a million birds and many thousands of reports have been re- 

 ceived. Iviany of the bands have been reported or returned by hunters who found 

 them on legs of ducks or other birds they have brou^^ht down. Each band is 

 numbered, and knowing where it was put on, and where the bird was brought down, 

 it gives a clue to that bird's flying route. In this way, the Biological Stirvey 

 is gradually finding out more and more about the courses followed by different 

 migratory birds in going to and from their nesting and feeding grounds. 



Of course, in determining the extent of protection or of control needed, 

 the food habits of the birds at different seasons and in different places along 

 the route must be known. 



In fact, there are a number of fascinating investigations in progress 

 which may reveal to us new facts about our old acquaintances of the wilds. 

 From time to time, during the coming year, we hope to tell you about some of 

 them. 



ANIIOUNCS!' I5NT r You have just listened to a program riresented by the United 



States Department of Agriculture and Station . This time two weeks from 



today we will have ajiother visit with Uncle Sam's Naturalists. 



