
HOULD you catch a glimpse of a 
tag dangling from the leg of a 
red-bellied woodpecker or brown 
thrasher, on their winged flights, do 
not ascribe the fettered arrangement 
to the mischievous foibles of youth. 
In all probability, the snug-fitting 
band was prompted by the Bureau of 
Biological Survey in its comprehensive 
plans to label 100,000 North American 
birds by means of identification tags. 
Already 19,000 members of the fea- 
thered tribe make their migratory 
flights under the observing eye of bird 
fanciers, the labels being authorized 
by the American Bird-Banding Asso- 
ciation. 
Now that the duties and purposes of 
this Association have been absorbed by 
Uncle Sam, the United States Depart- 
ment of Agriculture will supplement to 
its multifarious activi- 
ties—including a study 
of bugs as well as 
building roads—the 
goings and comings of 
bird life. The stealthy 
hawk who observes the 
barnyard flock from the 
steeple of the country 
church or perhaps goes 
on an errand of rob- 
bing birds’ nests may 
be numbered in the 
archives of the Wash- 
ington office—as_ of 
little concern as it may 
be in. circumscribing 
his depredations! 
NYWAY, the Fed- 
eral government is 
to make systematic 
survey and study of 
78 
Bird Banding 
By Means of Scientific Records, the Government is Discovering 
Some Interesting Facts About Bird Life 
By S. R. WINTERS 
the birds of the forests—even to the in- 
finite details of a faithful genealogical 
tree of the noisy English sparrow. 
Do birds, like mankind, have a 
“three-score-and-ten” limitation some- 
time in their existence?—cumulative 
evidence should give some proof. Birds 
each recurring year return to their 
selfsame nesting place, so concludes the 
American Bird-Banding Association in 
compiling data collected since 1909, the 
information covering the migrations of 
between 18,000 and 19,000 of the 
winged creatures. 
IKEWISE, they return to the same 
spot for winter quarters with 
each succeeding year, and in circling 
about to their winter homes they form 
the habit of favoring the same feeding 
places on their annual journey. As- 
suming that birds do come back to the 

The bird, in the left hand, is held quietly by closing the little finger over 
the neck 
same place to nest year after year, do 
they use the old nest boxes, and retain 
their former mates? To what extent 
do birds raise the second brood in the 
same nest, or same vicinity as the first 
brood? 
NTRIES to these fascinating ques- 
tions, as well as many others of 
similar import, will constitute the 
ledger account maintained by the 
Bureau of Biological Survey. More- 
over, a record is to be kept of the 
different visits the feathered tribe make 
to traps, thereby affording a continu- 
ous history of the individual. The 
government will supply identification 
tags to persons desiring to maintain 
feeding stations and assist in assem- 
bling authentic information about bird 
life. The bird-banding cards and 
records reserve space for noting the 
date of capture, the dis- 
tinguishing character- 
istics of the species, the 
locality where _ the 
specimen was_ seized, 
age and sex, the num- 
ber of times previously 
captured, and the serial 
number of the identi- 
fication mark. 
INCE taking over 
the work of the 
American  Bird-Band- 
ing Association in 
April of this year, 
Uncle Sam has regis- 
tered the returns of 
1,200 specimens that 
have been labelled. A 
letter from a Canadian 
hunter indicates that 
(Cont, on page 127) 
