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FOUNDERS OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETY 
ADVISO Y BOARD 
GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL, NEW YORK, N. Y. 
CARL E. AKELEY, American Museum of Natural History, New York. 
EDMUND HELLER, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. 
WILFRED H. OSGOOD, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, 111. 
JOHN M. PHILLIPS, Pennsylvania Game Commission, Pittsburgh, Pa. 
CHARLES SHELDON, Washington, D. C. 
GEORGE SHIRAS, 3d, Washington, D. C. 
JOHN T. NICHOLS, American Museum of Natural History, New York. 
T. GILBERT PEARSON, National Association of Audubon Societies. 
WILLIAM BRUETTE, Editor 
JOHN P. HOLMAN, Managing Editor 
T. H. MEARNS, Treasurer 
Nine East Fortieth Street, New York City 
Member of Audit Bureau of Circulation 
THE OBJECT OF THIS JOURNAL WILL BE TO 
studiously promote a healthful interest in outdoor 
recreation, 'and a refined taste for natural objects. 
August 14, 1873. 
LENGTH OF BIRD MIGRATION 
T he marking of migratory water-fowl, as practiced 
by the collaborators of the Biological Survey, has 
given evidence that it will be a most interesting 
and important investigation. Although the work has 
been in progress for only two years, notable results 
have already been secured. 
The ducks and other birds, whose movements are 
being studied by this method, are caught mainly by 
the use of special traps, light aluminum bands placed 
on one leg, and then released. Every band bears a 
serial number and the legend “Biol. Surv., Wash., 
D. C.’’ In the Washington office of the Biological Sur- 
vey these banded birds are card-indexed, so that when 
a hunter secures a duck bearing one of these bands 
and reports the data connected with its capture, by 
referring to the card file, the route covered by the 
bird in question can be easily ascertained. When such 
records are received, the hunter is advised where the 
bird was banded, while the person who attached the 
band is informed where it was secured. 
During the fall shooting seasons for the last few years, 
a large number of mallards and black ducks, with a 
few blue-winged teal and other species, have been 
banded at a small lake about 20 miles north of Toronto, 
Ontario, and many interesting returns have been re- 
ceived. 
The best “long range” record for these Canadian 
ducks is that of a blue-winged teal, banded September 
24, 1920, and killed two months and seven days later 
in the Caroni Swamp, near Port of Spain, on the island 
of Trinidad, just of¥ the coast of Venezuela. The short- 
est flight that this bird could have made would be over 
3,000 miles. It is a well-known fact that blue-wing'ed 
teals and certain other ducks that breed in North 
America spend the winter season in South America, 
but it was rather a surprise to learn that those individ- 
uals that had bred in Canada would make the long 
flight to South America, because the species also win- 
ters in small numbers in the Gulf region and it is to 
that area that the more northern birds might be ex- 
pected to go. 
The return records of ducks of other species, banded 
near Toronto, have afforded valuable data relative to 
V 
Forest and Stream " 
their migration. The lake where the banding was done, ■ 
Lake Scugog, is surrounded by marshes and thus offers ; 
excellent opportunities for the ducks to feed and rest j 
before starting the long flight to the south. The trap- 
ping and banding was carried on continuously through ! 
the autumn, so that by the time the big southward ! 
movement began' several hundred birds had been ' 
marked. At this time the season w'as open from the 
Great Lakes to the Gulf of IMexico and the migrating 
birds had to run a veritable gauntlet of sportsmen. A 
large number of “return records” were therefore re- 
ceived. . i 
In tracing the route of these birds it seemed appar- 
ent that the mallards and black ducks traveled together 
and their course from Lake Scugog was southwestward | 
along the shores of Lake Erie by way of the St. 
Clair flats. Here the route divided, the majority con- 
tinuing toward the southwest, cross-country to the ij 
Ohio River, thence to the Mississippi Valley where ’ 
many of them spent the winter. The second group, 
that parted from their fellows in the vicinity of Lake , 
Erie, took a southeasterly route, crossing the Alleghen- 1 
ies and reaching the Atlantic coast by way of Chesa- 
peake and Delaware Bays. It is interesting to note 
that although both of these ducks are present and the 
black duck is plentiful along the coast of New England, i 
none of the birds marked at Lake Scugog were taken = 
in that region. The question that naturally arises is: ‘ 
Where do those ducks come from? So far we only \ 
know that some breed in that area, but we do not know 
just where the migrating birds come from that use that 
route. Bird banding will probably supply the answer 
when it has been applied more intensively at a larger i 
number of stations. 
CREATING GAME PRESERVES 
S OMEHOW the sportsmen of this country, particu- 
larly those of the eastern states, have not evolved 
a means of creating and maintaining a game pre- 
serve in territory that readily lends itself to the pur- 
pose. In New England there are thousands of acres 
on which birds like quail and pheasants might be bred 
and raised in large numbers at comparatively small 
cost. But in spite of our national habit of doing clever 
things we have not quite met the requirements of a 
game preserve that will yield an abundance of product 
at a reasonable minimum of expenses. There are a 
number of wdiat might be termed fairly good game 
preserves in the eastern states operated by conventional 
methods, but they fall short of meeting the desired 
requirements, except, perhaps, in a moderate way. And 
this happens largely because some elementary princi- 
ples necessary to success are not properly taken into 
account. 
Birds are much like cattle with reference to the num- 
ber that will thrive on a given territory. One tract 
of a thousand acres will support a given number of 
cattle well. Another tract of equal size may support 
a larger or smaller number. It all depends upon the 
available food, w'ater and shelter. When the herd mul- 
tiplies beyond the number the tract can well care for, 
some of the cattle wdll drift aw'ay to new' pastures. 
With birds the same general rule holds. The ques- 
tion of suitable food, water and cover determines largely 
how many birds may be expected to thrive on a given 
tract. When this particular number is e.xceeded the 
surplus will drift aw'ay to new' territory. 
As.de from the matter of feed, w'ater and cover there 
are other considerations that enter into the creation of 
a successful game preserve, although these essentials 
are prerequisites. 
