Lyon, on Bird Banding 
35 
never stopped wiggling and kicking as long as we held him. 
The last, The Common Person, was just ordinary bird; lie tried 
a little of all the actions of the other four. 
The Fighter, The Squealer, The Quiet One, The Kicker, and 
The Common Person will long he remembered as the birds of 
distinct character that were always together and we were re- 
lieved when it turned cold on November 20th and they moved 
on to the Southland. 
A Golden-crowned Kinglet was trapped and seemed so sur- 
prised that it just lay perfectly quiet and looked us over while 
we put the baud on its leg, and when released it just stood up, 
straightened out its feathers, and then calmly looked us over for 
a full minute before flying to the nearest limb. 
A female Downy Woodpecker trapped last year squealed all 
the time it was held and when trapped again this year it 
squealed louder and longer than before. Other Downys would 
tight but were quiet. 
In explaining the work to people not versed in Bird Banding 
the general question asked is, “ Are the birds frightened by 
being handled ? ” In order to answer this question in an in- 
telligent manner we have kept a careful record of the First 
Flights of birds after being trapped and banded, and the ob- 
servation is made by allowing the bird to become quiet in the 
hand, then releasing as quietly as possible and carefully judging 
the distance it would fly before alighting. This study brought 
out the fact that when the same bird was caught the second time 
it would fly about twice as far as the first time, but if caught 
the third time the flight would equal about the same as the first 
flight; and if caught the fourth time the flight would be less 
than the first, and if the bird still continued to be trapped the 
flight became less and less until some of the birds that were 
placed on the ground just hopped away while others were 
always just as wild as at first. 
For the study of those interested in this subject we are giving 
the following table of First Flights recorded during the last 
few years. 
Name Distance Action while Handled 
Downy Woodpecker 200 feet Fight and squeal 
White-crowned Sparrow 100 feet Quiet 
White-throated Sparrow 50 feet Majority fight 
Song Sparrow 100 feet Generally quiet 
