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between total darkness and dawn; however, the net must be checked after 
complete darkness has set in. 
Success of any netting station depends on being able to place the net in 
such a fashion as to render it almost invisible to birds. A dark background 
is almost a necessity for good results. Fencerows, hedges, and bushes pro- 
vide good backgrounds and serve as shields against the wind which is a 
definite hindrance when operating mist nets. Of course, it is necessary to 
select sites that are known to be frequented by birds. Edges of woodlands 
are preferable to dense wooded areas. Open areas, in most cases, are not 
very successful netting sites. 
Of the smaller species, the warbler family, the vireos, and the flycatchers 
are among the easiest to remove from nets. A few small species fight the 
net and the operator all the way. One of the greatest offenders is the Black- 
capped Chickadee. In general, the larger birds, such as the thrushes, black- 
birds, etc., are easier to remove than the smaller ones. However, with no 
encouragement whatsoever, some will give you as good a pinch as you 
would care to receive; among these are Cardinals and other grosbeaks. 
The one point that is of the utmost concern would have to be the com- 
parison of the net with the trap as to safety for the trapped bird. There is 
no 100% safe trap or net. In traps, the most common sight is the bird with 
a bloody forehead from ramming its head into the hardware cloth of the 
trap. Another fault of traps is the tendency of some species to fight when 
there is more than one bird in the trap at a time. The bloodied forehead, 
of course, cannot occur in netting. The only instance that I can recall of 
birds fighting was a sapsucker pounding on the head of another of its own 
species while the latter was caught in the net. 
The only way a bird can come to grief while netted is to slip through the 
meshes and hang itself. This is a rare event. It is possible to have a bird 
so badly enmeshed that one must cut the netting to get it out, but again, 
these are the exceptions. Mortality in nets is slightly less than in traps ex- 
cept when inferior nets are used. Trap fatalities, generally speaking, are 
the fault of the trap and not the operator. In netting, losses are usually 
due to an operator with inferior equipment or lack of experience. Competent 
netting is an art that comes only through experience. 
The seed and grain-eating species of birds are by far the best customers 
when one is using traps. It is quite a different story, however, when nets 
are used. If a bird flies into the net and is caught, whether a seed or insect 
eater, the bird is still caught. The flycatcher family is a good example of 
a group that is rarely caught in a trap but can be banded frequently at a 
netting station. The whole netting set-up is portable and easily moved to a 
new location if the need arises. A better sampling of birds in the area is 
obtained through netting because the net will take a greater overall species 
total than will traps. There is, of course, a space requirement when using 
nets, especially if they are 40 feet long. Nets also may be spotted by children 
if the area happens to abound with them. Entanglement will not harm the 
children, but you can guess what sort of havoc can be raised with the nets 
if they are roughly handled. 
With the greater numbers of species handled and the larger totals of 
birds, there will be quite a jump in the amount of record-keeping that will 
have to be done. Of course, if there is no accurate and positive method of 
record-keeping, there certainly is no point in banding a bird in the first 
place. If someone would like to band birds, it is well to know that there is 
a certain amount of responsibility and work involved. 
