tev we Ub iQeNea bal is. tyke bly N. 
Miss Stewart started banding birds during the summer of 
‘930 while she was working as a nature counselor at Camp 
Ywaissa in Lake Ariel, Penn. She continued to band birds in 
Yennsylvania and then in Wilmette until October, 1960. The 
raps Miss Stewart used were home-made ground traps, traps 
vith false bottoms, except for a government sparrow trap 
vhich she purchased. ‘These particular traps limited the number 
f species Miss Stewart could capture, but still she caught 73 
pecies over the years. For identifying the birds she used Chap- 
aan's hand book at first, but later used Roger Tory Peterson's 
‘A Field Guide to the Birds.”’ 
Miss Stewart's records show that she banded 1,051 birds 
hile in Pennsylvania and 4,231 birds in Wilmette. Of these 
irds, 1,901 were white-throated sparrows, banded in Wilmette 
rom 1942 to 1960, except for 12 which she had banded in 
he fall of 1941 while visiting in Wilmette. Her trays were 
or the most part baited with baby-chick food. She had many 
2peats and returns of birds that came back to the same area 
> be banded. But she had very few returns from a distance, and 
ound — to her amazement — that the white-throated sparrows 
ather enjoyed being trapped. A white-throated female returned 
ne spring for seven consecutive days, sometimes as many as 
aree times in one day. 
Much of this banding was done on a large lot in a res1- 
ential area five blocks from Lake Michigan. On the lot were 
ushy shrubs, mulberry, oak and elm trees. 
A baby cedar waxwing started Miss Stewart on her bird 
anding activities. While working around Camp Owaissa, a 
»-worker found the tiny bird and brought it to Miss Stewart 
tho succeeded in raising the waxwing by feeding it small bits 
f wild cherry, berries and grasshoppers. ‘The bird was never 
aged but kept in the nature house at camp and at night put 
1 a cereal box. The bird thrived and when allowed to go out 
ew into a near-by tree but would return for food. Often when 
Niss Stewart called to him he would fly down from the tree 
nd perch on her finger. This friendship tie with the bird made 
er wish for some way of marking it. So she applied for and 
rceived a license to band birds. That was the start of the 
iobby that we were seeing partially fulfilled that evening. 
We left Miss Stewart that hot summer night glad that she 
ad received this unusual report on her banded white-throated 
oarrow. She planned to write, she had told us, to A. Labriola 
1 New Jersey to further verify the record. 
A few days later the letter from New Jersey arrived. I 
‘It twinges of fear when Grace Stewart called the next morning 
) ask if I wanted to read it. Did I want to read it? My interest 
29 
