u 
Forest and Stream 
Terms, $3 a Year, 10 Cts. a Copy, ^ 
Six Months, $1.50. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 1911. 
j VOL. LXXVI.—N«. 17. 
' No. 127 Franklin St., New York. 
A WEEKLY JOURNAL. 
Copyright, 1911, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
George Bird Grinnell, President, 
Charles B. Reynolds, Secretary, 
Louis Dean Speir, Treasurer, 
127 Franklin Street, New York. 
THE OBJECT OF THIS JOURNAL 
will be to studiously promote a healthful in¬ 
terest in outdoor recreation, and to cultivate 
a refined taste for natural objects. 
—Forest and Stream, Aug. 14, 1873. 
BIRD MIGRATION STUDY. 
The work of marking birds by means of rings 
attached to their legs has now been going on 
for two or three years, and may very well lead 
to discoveries of extraordinary interest. Several 
times within the past year or two, ducks wear¬ 
ing metal bands on their legs have been killed 
by gunners, though it is not known who is so 
marking them. A year ago we told of the for¬ 
mation of the American Bird Banding Associa¬ 
tion—the first systematic attempt here to mark 
birds so that they may be identified wherever 
found. 
In Europe the work of marking—or as it is 
cailed in England, ringing—birds is much older. 
There are records of birds marked in the sum¬ 
mer of 1906, and the work has grown from that 
time on. In Great Britain three different sets 
of people are so marking birds, besides some 
shooting proprietors and one or two ornitholo¬ 
gists. In the year 1909 the publication known 
as “British Birds” so marked 2,200 birds, while 
in the. summer of 1910, 7,900 birds were marked. 
Of these a large number were black-headed gulls, 
which were found to migrate south from Cum¬ 
berland down both the east and west coasts of 
England. They crossed the channel, and rings 
were sent back to England from two points in 
France. Marked terns were killed in Spain and 
Portugal. 
The Germans at their station at Rossitten, on the 
Baltic, began the work before it was undertaken 
in Britain, and in connection with the Danish 
and Hungarian stations at Viborg and Budapest, 
respectively, have secured most interesting re¬ 
sults. Thus the migration of the white stork 
has been traced from Europe south into Africa, 
the line passing through Tunis in North Africa, 
Lake Chad in Central Africa, through Basuto¬ 
land and Rhodesia to Natal in South Africa. 
Rings with the stamps of the Rossitten and Viborg 
stations have been returned from different points 
along this route. Other storks travel further 
eastward, through Austria, and into Asia Minor, 
passing into Africa through Egypt, as is indi¬ 
cated by rings returned from Syria and from 
the Soudan. The distance covered in this migra¬ 
tion is very great—not less than 5,500 miles in 
a straight line from Prussia or Denmark, where, 
as nestlings, the birds were marked, to their 
winter quarters in South Africa—a journey 
thither and back of not far from 11,000 miles. 
In Denmark there has been some marking of 
ducks, Herr Mortensen having marked 102 in 
1907 on the island of Fanoe, in South Denmark. 
Of these up to the end of 1908, twenty-two had 
been recovered in great Britain, France, Ho.land 
and one each from Spain and Italy. 
The smaller birds have not been neglected, but 
from the very nature of things are less likely to 
be reported on. A woodcock marked in Ireland 
was killed in Portugal and one marked in York¬ 
shire was taken in Scotland. In a number of 
cases of small birds nesting about houses, it is 
seen that the birds return year after year to 
the same spot to rear their young. In many 
cases birds which are to be seen in any locality 
all through the year are supposed not to migrate, 
but it is now known to ornithologists—and this 
knowledge has been confirmed by these marking 
experiments—that most birds are migratory, and 
that most of those of any species that are with 
us in winter are birds from the north, which in 
spring return to their summer home, to be re¬ 
placed by other birds of the same species which 
come up there from the south. 
These experiments in the marking of birds 
will certainly teach us a very great deal about 
migration of birds and the routes and the dis¬ 
tances which they travel. 
A UNIVERSAL ANGLING ASSOCIATION. 
Now that the representative angling clubs of 
France, Australia, England and the United States 
are being drawn closer and closer together under 
common bonds, the time is ripe for the forma¬ 
tion of an international association of angling 
clubs. 
The New South Wales Anglers’ Casting 
Club of Australia is now affiliated with the 
British Amateur Fly- and Bait-Casting Club, and 
these organizations are of national importance. 
The Casting Club de France has wide influence. 
The American National Association is composed 
of about twenty influential angling clubs. Mem¬ 
bers of all these organizations are carrying on 
correspondence related to their common interests. 
The French and British anglers exchange visits 
and take part in the contests held near Paris 
and London. A fraternal feeling and a desire 
for competition, either side by side on the same 
waters, or in widely separated countries under 
common rules have fostered in each country the 
growth of a widespread interest in the doings 
of the anglers of other countries. The next step 
is the formation of an international association, 
and action looking toward this might well be 
taken at the tournament to be held near London 
next summer. The British club under whose 
auspices it is to be held is supported in a way 
by the Fly-Fishers’ Club, many of whose mem¬ 
bers are affiliated with it, and at this meeting it 
is probable that a large number of residents on 
the continent and possibly some Americans will 
be present. It would be difficult to choose a 
better time for considering the question. 
Fly- and bait-casting competitions are of suffi¬ 
cient interest to attract and hold the attention 
of anglers. They are instructive in themselves. 
T. hej draw together anglers who are more or 
less influential in their own localities, and these 
. men return home and spread the gospel of the 
theory and practice of the gentle art as it is 
piacticed to-day. For the modern conception of 
fishing is constantly undergoing changes for the 
better, and the teachings of Walton are sinking 
deeper and deeper into the hearts of men whose 
physical and mental wellbeing demands the rec¬ 
reation and the relief from care that are to be 
found on the water and in the woods. 
Each of the organizations referred to above 
has made concessions in the matter of rules in 
order to comply, as far as possible, with the 
practices of other similar organizations, and at 
the present time these rules are more nearly in 
agreement than was believed possible ten years 
a R°- There is room for the further harmonizing 
of conditions, and this would properly come 
under the jurisdiction of an international 
body. Records are much sought after. To be 
recognized as international, a record should be 
made under universal rules, in open competition 
under the auspices of an organization of import¬ 
ance. This spells competition worthy the name, 
for atmospheric influences, air currents and tem- 
peiature are so variable that they are not taken 
into account in the result to be attained in such 
trials of skill, though it is only fair that they be 
referred to, for purposes of information. 
Distance need be no obstacle to the formation 
of the association suggested, for the mails are 
swift and sure, and matters of importance to all 
organizations interested could be acted on through 
correspondence. 
Some excellent provisions are embodied in the 
new Kansas game laws. Only shooting on the 
wing will be permitted at wildfowl, waders and 
upland birds, for the law prohibits the shoot¬ 
ing of game birds on the ground or on the water, 
although we assume that the killing of cripples 
will be permitted. Eagles are to be protected 
always, and deer, antelope, beaver and otter for 
ten years. Chinese and English pheasants and 
Hungarian partridges are protected for six years. 
The traffic in bird plumage is illegal, no matter 
where taken. Offsetting these meritorious pro¬ 
visions—except as to otter—the shooting of wild¬ 
fowl, plover and snipe will not close until April. 
* 
The school children of Newark, N. J., will 
plant 50,000 trees on Arbor Day this year. One- 
year seedlings to this number have been given 
them for the purpose by a Newark firm, together 
with circulars containing instructions. 
