38 1 HE ALU DIU Bt OU Ne bisa hae 
“We are trapping and banding anywhere from five to ten cardinals 
each day in our two traps,” he said. “And about one in ten is one which 
we have already banded. We call them trap bums because they keep 
returning for the free food.” 
Although Arthur is finding it relatively easy to trap and band, he 
expects recoveries to be minor: “We don’t expect to get many recoveries 
from the project; cardinals are not game birds, and most band recoveries 
from other species are returned from hunters who down game birds. The 
few recoveries we might get will probably be from other banders or by 
a bird being hit by a car. The recovery rate will be very low, but the re- 
porting rate should be very high. Most people will return bands from un- 
usual species, whereas they sometimes don’t from ducks and geese. 
“We will probably get the most information for the project when we 
retrap some of the birds now banded in later years. This will give us some 
idea of how old they live to be and their mortality rate.” 
‘PARSON TO PERSON’ 
The Parson ought to be an enabler, a helper, a facilitator, an 
expediter—at any rate, I’ve always thought so. Therefore, as 
we discover new ways fo recycle, to move nearer to organic 
gardening methods, to treat our environment with considera- 
tion, we need to share with one another all the valuable in- 
formation we can. 
Bill Sproat, our church’s natural prairie consultant, used 
a mulch around our plant beds at church, consisting of the 
chopped wood and leaves that Commonwealth Edison accumu- 
lates as it cuts slashes through wooded land to run wires. This 
mulch is neat; it is also biodegradable—as good mulch should 
be—and turns into compost. It is also free of charge. Common- 
wealth Edison will deliver to YOUR driveway or lawn a 
quantity you can use,’at your request. 
| have known about this mulch source for some time; 
other church people have used it. | have just received my own 
supply, and am wheel-barrowing it from driveway to plant 
borders in installments. The leaves and small twigs have 
already begun to decompose; the wood chips, too, are re- 
turning to their organic components rather fast, for such 
rugged material. 
Commonwealth Edison may be guilty of abetting thermal 
pollution of Lake Michigan, but it is aiding on the other hand, 
in recycling one of its own waste products. While we oppose 
their doing what is harmful, we can at the same time assist 
them and ourselves in doing something helpful. Isn‘t life 
complex? 
—The Rev. Russell Bletzer, Deerfield, III. 
