Trapping and Banding of Snipe.--Before the winter of 1952-53 only 
963 Wilson's snipe had been banded in North America. Of these, 32 were 
subsequently retrapped or recovered, one of them being recaptured in two 
different years, and another being reported as retrapped and subsequent- 
ly shot--making a total of 34 recoveries (3.4%). Of the 32 individuals, 
25 were retaken at the locality where banded, 3 were taken at other places 
in the same state, and l} were recovered in a different state or province 
from where banded. Since only 117 Wilson's snipe were reported as banded 
in North America prior to fiscal year 1940, there has been little oppor- 
tunity for banded snipe to be recovered through hunting; therefore, re- 
covery percentages on the snipe banded to date would be expected to run 
very low. The recovery rate for snipe of this same species banded in 
England (based on over 2,000 birds) is 5 percent. 
Japanese mist nets proved effective for trapping snipe for brief 
periods at dawn and dusk, but they were ineffective during the day (when 
wind or bright sun made the nets too easily visible) or at night (when 
snipe tend to fly too high above the ground). The best trapping location 
tested was along the Mobile Bay Causeway, within a few hundred feet of 
one of the busiest highways in the country. Due to the advisability of 
keeping the nets out of public view, they were set up at dusk, and removed 
by sunrise time. In spite of these limitations, 37 snipe were banded there 
in three nights. Thirteen others were banded at Sabine National Wildlife 
Refuge, and 10 at Lake Jessup, Florida (one night). Wing and culmen 
measurements were recorded for 62 snipe, but due to the large amount of 
overlap, few individuals could be sexed. 
Much more banding will be needed in order to determine migration 
routes of this species. The four inter-state recoveries on file show 
movement from Newfoundland to Guadeloupe (French West Indies), Massa-~ 
chusetts to North Carolina, New York to Ontario, and California to 
British Columbia. | : 
Data from Christmas Season Counts.--Snipe data from the 1952-53 
Christmas Bird Counts were examined, and compared with similar counts 
from previous years. A summary of the number of snipe recorded per 100 
party-hours is presented in Table 20, together with similar data for the 
five previous years. The figures from previous years have been changed 
slightly from those used in last year's table, as a few of the areas which 
had been covered in previous years failed to submit reports in 1952-53. 
All areas which had been covered all six years, and which had reported 
snipe in one or more of these years, were used in the computations. Data 
are grouped by Administrative Regions, the same as last year. Comparison 
of the 1952-53 figures with average of the five previous years (last column 
of table 20) indicates a substantial increase in Region 5 (possibly a direct 
result of the very mild autumn in that area). Decreases are shown for the 
other regions, but in no case are they greater than the normal variability 
- from year to year, which results from the small number of areas covered. 
No significant change in total population. is indicated by these data, 
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