Band Recovery Trips 
In order to collect bands and make the project better known, band 
recovery trips were made to various parts of Egypt, These trips paid 
richly5 not only in bands recovered, but also in information acquired 
and publicity generated. We have greatly enhanced our knowledge of 
bird-capture methods and accumulated a significant collection of bird 
traps at the same time. In travelling from village to village in quest 
of bands 5 the band recovery team impressed upon the many farmers, 
hunters, fishermen and shopkeepers encountered, the scientific value of 
bands and the importance of saving them. These casual meetings and 
discussions yielded much fascinating bird lore: local bird names; the 
dates of passage for species from village to village; migration flyways 
through a region. The bands recovered represent a significant 
contribution to the body of Egyptian recovery data. It must be 
remembered, however, that in many cases the recovery dates will be 
approximations. Concepts of time vary from culture to culture and the 
system used efficiently by an Egyptian farmer to mark the events of his 
life may not correspond to scientific reckoning. On these trips, the 
Field Team made observations on the ecological relationship of birds 
and men in Egypt. Aspects of this relationship, such as the importance 
of birds to man as a source of food and income, estimates of the number 
of wild birds taken, and the impact of man’s trapping activities on 
migrating flocks, were further explored. 
21 
