LIKE ALL GOOD SAILORS, THIS GULL HAS A CHOICE VOCABULARY When there is no garbage about to be picked up, the Herring Gulls feed largely on small shellfish, sometimes breaking open the shells by carrying them well up into the air and then dropping them on the rocks. This operation has frequently to be repeated several times before the desired result is obtained. eastern Asia and the Alaskan mainland that have been found there. SYSTEMATIC BIRD BANDING IS A MODERN DEVELOPMENT Systematic marking of birds, each properly recorded for the purpose of studying movements and habits, has developed in Europe and the United States within the past 30 years. The greatest advance has been since 1920 and it is now becoming a well-recognized line of research. Investigators familiar with the bird life of their districts capture the birds, alive and unharmed, with many ingenious traps, and place a numbered aluminum band or ring on the leg of each. Each band bears a central address, so that whenever the bird is retaken, alive or dead, the finder may forward either the band or the number on it. The use of birds as messengers by man began in the dim past. Perhaps the earliest record is that of Noah, who is said to Photograph by R. D. Sloane A PAIR OF "HONKERS" TAKE THE AIR After being banded, these two Geese took up their interrupted migration none the worse for the markers they wore away with them. have sent out the Raven and the Dove to prospect for land. The first record of birds being marked to distinguish them after flight appears to be in the tenth book of Pliny's Natural History, which states that a Roman sportsman took Swallows from Volaterræ (Volterra), in Tuscany, to Rome. During the chariot races the birds were marked with colors of the winners and then liberated to carry the news back home. For a time prior to the development of systematic banding, students desirous of lifting the veil of mystery surrounding bird movements cut the feathers so they could readily be identified. Sometimes they marked the birds. with bright colors, or attached a small piece of parchment with a legend to a feather or to a leg. These crude and scattered efforts gave little information. The first record of a bird banded appears to have been made in 1710. A Great Gray Heron, bearing several rings on one leg, was taken in Germany. One of the rings apparently had been placed on it in Turkey. In 1899 Professor C. C. Mortensen, a school-teacher of Viborg, Denmark, began systematically to band and record Storks, Starlings, and other birds along the general lines which are still in use. Thus he became the pioneer in practical, scientific methods of bird banding, and his success led to the work being taken up in various places, especially in Great Britain, Sweden, elsewhere in Europe, and also in the United States. The two records of birds banded in Europe being taken on this side of the Atlantic appear to be both of Kittiwake Gulls. The first was a young bird banded June 28, 1923, on the Farne Islands, off the coast of Northumberland. On August 12, 1924, it was killed in the District of St. Barbe, Newfoundland. The second was also banded on the Farne Islands, June 30, 1924, and was taken at Gross Water Bay, Labrador, in October, 1925. AUDUBON WAS THE FIRST AMERICAN No bird banded on this side has yet been taken in Europe, although many stray American birds have been recorded there. One banded American bird, however, has been recovered in Africa (see text, page 119). In the United States Audubon made the first record of bird marking, about 1803, while he was living on Perkiomen Creek, near Philadelphia. He placed silver cords about the legs of a brood of Phoebes, two of which returned to the same neighborhood the following year. The pioneers in systematic bird banding in this country were, first, Dr. Leon J. Cole, and later Mr. Howard H. Cleaves. Their enthusiasm enabled them to keep bird banding in continuous operation from the beginning of the century to the time when the work was taken over by the Biological Survey in 1920. No account of bird banding in the United States is complete Mr. F. C. Lincoln is in charge of the bird-banding work of the United without mention of Mr. S. Prentiss Bald win. His able pioneer work from 1914 to 1919 in developing traps and methods for their use in the capture of small birds to be banded, and his continued investigations, merit full appreciation. His work has been done on Inwood Estate, near Thomasville, Georgia, and at Hillcrest, his summer home, near Cleveland, Ohio. To his successful methods of operation and delightful presentation of the results to the public, combined with the entry of the Biological Survey into the work, with Mr. F. C. Lincoln in charge of this activity, may be credited much of the rapid development of this form of scientific research in America. States Biological Survey. Extraordinary work has also been done by Mr. Jack Miner at Kingsville, Ontario, where for years he has carried on the banding of Ducks and Geese attracted to his refuge. He states that 40 per cent of the birds he tags in the autumn return the following spring. Geese bearing his bands have been taken in 23 States. His sanctuary is an unparalleled object lesson of the confidence which may be established between man and wild things when the approach is undertaken in the right spirit (see pages 96-97). One demonstration of the keen interest in bird banding has been the formation of four regional bird-banding associations, among which has been divided all of the CANADA GEESE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A FRIEND'S HOSPITALITY By using corn instead of shot, Mr. Jack Miner has attracted many wild birds to his sanctuary. Once a professional hunter, he is now a conservationist. Each of his bands contains a verse of Scripture and he calls the birds on which he places them his missionaries. It is not until their third year that the Bald Eagles acquire the characteristic white head feathers that give them their name. They are nearly black the first year and quite gray the second. Even a young one is strong enough to require the services of three men to band it. FEATHERED CITIZENS OF THE AIR FIND SANCTUARY HERE This bird refuge of Kingsville, Ontario, has become a favorite resort for Wild Geese and other migrating flocks (see text, page 95). They know where they are safe and fly up well out of reach of gunshot before venturing off the protected property of the sanctuary. Hardy and pugnacious, the Starling is well fitted to care for itself in the struggle for existence. Although its ancestors came from Europe less than half a century ago, it has spread rapidly through the north and middle Atlantic sections and threatens to become a real pest. |