Bird Banding Department 
109 
My own interest in bird-banding grew independently out of my life- 
long interest in birds and in the problems of migration. 1 had the 
method in mind as early as 1901 - and the results of Prof. F. H. Herrick, 
< blained in his study of the distribution of the lobster on our Atlantic 
seaboard by means of tagged specimens, convinced me of the practica- 
bility of the method for birds. In 1902, in connection with a study of 
the German carp which I was making for the United State's Fish Com- 
mission, I tagged a small number of these fish in order to determine 
their movements and distribution, but the work was not continued and 
was on too small a scale to produce results. I became determined, how- 
ever, to try the method out on birds at the first opportunity. 
Such opportunity did not offer until the winter of 1907-8, when I 
broached the subject to the New Haven Bird Club, a small but enthusi- 
astic group of bird students interested primarily in local field work. The 
proposition was received cordially and a committee, consisting of Dr. Louis 
B. Bishop, Mr. Clifford H. Pangburn, and myself, as chairman, was ap- 
pointed to put the plan into operation. This plan contemplated at that 
time only local efforts. It involved securing a supply of bands and their 
distribution to members of the club, who should carry them with them 
on their field trips, and use them whenever opportunity offered, principally 
on nestlings. The banding, however, was rather incidental, the chief 
interest of the field workers being along other lines, and the number of 
birds banded in 1908 proved to be disappointingly small. I was, how- 
ever, more than ever convinced of the value of the method, and felt par- 
ticularly that if the interest and cooperation of the large number of ama- 
teur bird students in the country could be secured in the work it would 
gradually build up an accumulation of accurate data on bird movements 
which would be of the greatest scientific value. During the season I dis- 
cussed the matter particularly with Dr. Bishop and with Dr. Glover M. 
Allen of Cambridge, and corresponded with a number of other ornitholo- 
gists. It was in these discussions that the plan developed of gradually 
extending the work to national scope, but for the time it seemed best to 
keep it under the auspices of the New Haven Bird Club. The committee, 
however, asked and received permission to expand its powers, and the 
whole work, was, in fact, placed unrestrictedly in its hands. It is my 
recollection that during the first year the Club had contributed some- 
thing towards the modest financial support of the work, but it was now 
determined to depend for financial assistance entirely on voluntary sub- 
scriptions. 
The expanded program increased greatly the burden of correspond- 
ence, the difficulties of securing bands and of obtaining funds to meet 
necessary expenses. The correspondence and keeping of the records fell 
entirely to myself and had to be conducted without clerical assistance, 
except a necessary minimum now and then when a form letter w-as to 
be sent out. This grew to be a considerable burden, especially as it had 
to be done in addition to my regular duties as instructor in the Sheffield 
Scientific School. Obtainng suitable bands and in sufficient quantity was 
then as it always has been, a serious problem. In the early days we se- 
2 Cole, L. J., Suggestions for a method of studying the migrations 
of birds. 3rd Rept. Mich. Acad. Sci., 1901, pp. 67-70. 1902. 
