Published Qpa.rterly, bt the

Wes.tern Bird !a,nding Associationat the

Museumof Vertebrate ZoologyBorkeley, California

Miscellaneous InformationRegarding Subscription ,Membership, Manuscript, Band Supply, Traps, and

Publications will be Found on the Back Cover.

~e circumstances of our recent change of base need verybrief mention, thanks to announcementswhich Wereprinted in theOondoror distributed through our mailing lists. At a generalmeeting held in Pa8adenaon February g the present slate ofofficers was voted in with t):l.eobject of transforring the emcu-tivo offioos of the aSBociation to' Berkeley. The reasons forthis change were manifold, but chief amongthemwere the factsthat manyof the founders anl1or,an1s~s were no longer able tospare the time which they ba:vele:vished on the Association sinceits birth in 1ges, and hope11that by the cultivation of a newfield from a local point of "fantap our membershipand activitiesmight be increased. .

Weventure to entertain· Beveral hopes for the future of theWBBA.Lying closest to our hand is the fact that banding in thesan Francisco :Bay region, distinguished individual exceptions tothe contrary notwithstanding, is for the most part notable byits absence, a fact the more regretable sinco the sameregion isalr~ classic ground for. the older branches of omi tholo§'.Moredifficult of achieveme1'1t,but desirable in the highest de-gree is the cultivation of bandinghand in hand with the ornitho--logical developmentof the nor'tbwest. Here is the one field intho United Statos Wherebanding ~ still have its snare in thepioneer work, for if Within our national boundaries there stillremains a terra incognita, speaking bird-wise, it lies in Wash-ington and Oregon. l3andingthere has alrea.d1'brQkenimportantgraund aJ:ldplqed a considerable part in one important recentdevelOpment,---Grtnnellls separation of the nutalli and p'Ulietensisforms of Zonotrichia leucophrYs. If we judge riiJ;ltly of samof the new stationa, this is the country to _tch during the nextdecade. Last, and perhaps nearest to our heart is the hope tbatbanding has a great and immediatetuttlre in professional omi tho-logy, and that its indispensable value as a techniq'U8for thestuc1Tof populations, areas, territories, local movementsand in-dividual relationships, alreaCb"well-established in the west inthe wolk of Price and others on the Stanford OaPI,pUsand of Mis.Erikson on the wren-tits of ~tbe ~on near Berkelel, w111win richer profits for the science of birds than have accruedfrom the necessarily haphazard banding of the past. In alldirections and at all times DISl' this office, and through it thefacilities of the museumwhosehospitality it enJoys, b. utilizedto the fullest possible degree by western banders, membersandnon-members,as an aid to the greatest developnent of all materialand all records.

It remain, only to· bid fare.~llto the ret1rl~ presidentand his aaaooiatea, and to 8UIIJ&1'1.eas be.tw. JDal' their achieve-ments. Starting with an organization meeting in December,1924,they have bu.1lt 'Upan association of about one hundred active

·members stretching from the .Arctic Circle to Mexico, and amailirJg and correspondence list of more than double that numberif we include the many others interested in the work but less ableto pursue it.actively. The west is I ornithologically speaking,very thinly populated, and these figures i even as compared withthe east ,are very notable when.viowedfrom such a relative basis.Our predecessors have brought OI1t18 lssuesof the News. Theyhave taken a leading part in, and in .manycases have originatedthe developments which bave succeeded one another at WashiDgtonfor the organization and handling of banding and its returns.They bave maintained separate records of western bandiDg, and an]emergency band-supp17 which has distributed, for tb.e most part. insmall uni ts, some 22000 bands. They bave developed at least twostandard and many special traps, and marmfactured and distributedthese and other banding supplies and adjuncts in large quanti ties.Finally, the Los .Az)geleschapter, which hitherto has been almostsyncnymouswith the government .of theW.B.B •.1., has been and isone of the most notable bandag units in the country, including asit does, in its annals, the pro\all17 unparalleled achievement ofthe Michenere in banding, on a city- lot in the heart of Pasadena,with no special aid or advanta,;es, saD811herein the neighborhoodof thirty thousand separately trapped passerine birds.

Far be it from us to persuade anyone to kill a bird agains this own inclinations or principles -- we loathe the process tooheartily ourselves and deplore too strongly the callousness towardlife as such which too often d~ls the senses of the collector orzoologist.

There are, however, three .1tuations, for the isolatedbander in particular, when a specimen bas Paramou.nt value. First,of course, when a captured bird is a great rarity I or a firstrecord in the region. Wehave saved our owngood nameand the lifeof the bird in at least one J1.ot.ablecase by means of .lif8-s1zephotographs ,but thess are not eu.tfioient in, ~ or mOlt cases,and unless an authority and a coll~tion oan be reached with thelivo bird the bander bas the c:b,oiceof collecting the spec1lX18norbe1I1g turned downby the harassed andnecef.3sarily scepticaJ,. gentle-men who run the big reviews ,ad carry the weight of scientificresponsibility on their devoted Shoulders.

Second, an the bt,rd is a "recapture" (framanother station)and represents a form 'Whoserange h doubtful or whos8subspeciesare complex and not clearly delimited in area. Here one excellentexpedient is to put the bird 'in a cage, or even a box with sufficientventilation, while a note or wire is sent to the Association askingfor the record of original banding and advice as to probable impor-tance. '!he fringillids in particular are very easily kept incaptiVity.

Third, whena bird is captured which is diseased. Suchspecimensare usually of verr great importance, l:xuma.nitarianor scientifie. Unfortunately, especially in the caso of morbidgrowths, even the earliest st8&osof bacterial dG~ may.confusethe situation hOpelessly, and it i. extremely desirable to getthe speoimeninto the hands of an an1malpathologist alive,verT SOOB atter death, or perfectly preserved as in alcohol orformalin. Therefore,in the case of unpreserved remains, whilethe association will act instantly on receipt. of the specimen,it i8 better to mail directly to SC1D8 authority or institution,such as the HooperReMarchJ'oundationof the universi tyotCalifornia MedicalSchool, Seoondand Parnassua A.venues,Sanhancisco.

Thechief point of this ra.ther long preamble is that Whenbanders care to, or feel them4Jelve8in duty bound to,oollect aspec1men,thisoffices taad. ~ to identify, or to obtain thebest pos8ible identification of, azJl' bird which it receivos, totransmit all po,sible 1Dforma'tiion , and to makeskina whenthevalue am condition of ths speCimenwarrants it, either for re-turn to tbe sender or pe:I"IDaMntdepositin the Museumof Verte-brate Zoology, as ~ be designated.

Fresh specimens, especially if well chilled before ship-ping, or even frozen, will stand a considerable shipmentwithou.tpreservative, and Will alwqs be identifiable at least.

Thevarious efforts to band the AmericanOoothave beenattended with less lavish success than washoped for, and wemu.stwait until next winte:rbefore the m:miberscan reach a totalwhichwill offer reasonable chance of returning the data onmigratory habits which the state and federal authorities need.

The.AsSOciation,with the generous support &1\dassistanceof the Oaliforn1aDivision of Jish and Geme,choseto elevote itsenergies to tlle Loe Beitoswild fowl refuge du.r1ngthe late winterand early spring season. There the birds were abundant, but thelow, bare mores of the n8wly-created ponds, with their totallack of cover, and the extremeconspicuousnessof the t raps wereprobably important adverse factors, while the abundant newandtender spring grass, growing to waters edge, becamedaily a moreeffective rivalot the grain baits. A total of 304 birds werebanded. MaD7morewere lost, first through early efforts to use

the condemnedfish-nets which were available, but whioh, as wassuspected beforehand, were of too large a mesh to hold the de-ceptively small bodies of the coot, and second through DBkeshiftefforts to reme~ this before the traps were finally covered,with the exception of the tops, with chicken wire. Four sOJnewhatprolonged week-ends were devoted to the work by considerablegroups of banders and ornithologists from Berkeley and Da.vi••

The work is now suspended, as the captures at Lo. 1lfiii.osbecame too small to jus tify the continued effort and ezp8nse,and, since most other good ground is held by duck clubs wheretrapping should not be carried on du.ring the breeding •• ason, itis for the momentdifficult to establish a new location. We lookforward to new activities in the late summerand especially dur-ing the caning winter, when food conditions should favor baiting.

Due to the fact that until a few years ago the smallersizes of bands furnished by the Biological SUrveywere made softand rather thin, those used on scratching birds have been foundin ma.nycases to wear out du.ring the natural life of the birdsand doubtless, in ma.nycases, to falloff. Take for examplethree Spotted Towhees, banded from six to seven and one-halfyears ago; one, trapped by the writer F~bruary 5th, 1931, _sbanded by E. D. Clabaugh in the same location, on November8th,1924. That portion of the band carrying the first two numbershad broken off; the remainder was attached to the leg of thebird apparently by adhesion to the scales I and of course, was11ke1y to comeoff a:ny~. Twoothers, banded by Mr- ClabaughAugust 23d, 1923 and June 21st, 1924, were trapped by me onFebruary 2d and January 11th, 1931, respeotive1y. Both o-f thesebands were worn nearly through and would probably have droppedoff in a short time. All three bands I replaced with new ones.Mr. F. C. Lincoln of the Biological Survey writes under date ofFebruary 19th, 1931, "we are nowusing thicker aluminum, andall bands from Size 2 'l1P are tempered as hard as possible, andaccordingly we believe that the bands will last longerft• Untilthe generations of birds bearing the neVTbands have lived theirallotted years, it would appear that the n'Ulllberof these yearscannot be ascertained. Mr. Lincoln does not state the datewhen the more durable bands were put in to use.

.red GrebePigeon GuillemotGl$:uC0U8-wiDged GullCal1forn1a. GullJ'raDkl1n GullCasp ian TernLeast Tern:Red-breasted MerganaerMallardQadqllBeldpateGreen-lI'1D&ed TealPintail:RedheadLesser Scaup Du.ckRu.d.<tr Du.ck.American CootMarbled GodwitWestern WilletLong-billed CurlewValle7 Quail ,Gambel QpaUWestern MourniDg DoveSharp-shinned HawkWe.tern Red-tailed HawkSwaineon JlawkJ'errtJ8inoU8 Rough-legged B'awk:Golden llaglePigeon Hawk:Desert Sparrow Hawk:Barn OwlLong-eared OwlScreech OwlWestern Horned OwlBI1rrowiJ1i OwlRoadrunnerAmerican fbree-toed WoodpeckerRed-shafted FlickerRufOUBBuumi~bird.A.rkansa. KingbirdWestern KingbirdSay PhoebeBlack PhoebeWestern FlycatcherHammondFlycatcherMagpieBlue-fronted JayCalifornia JqRocky Mountain J~

11

,24115113000

43282160, 1

1846

i~40~

111

128153242

.~

11031

221

~11411484416

25929

Olarke NUtcrackerCowbirdYellow-headed BlackbirdSan Diego RedwingRuB ty Black b 1rdWestern MeadowlarkArizona Hooded OrioleBullock OrioleBrewer BlackbirdCalifornia Purple FinchHouse FinchGr~-crowned LeucosticteWillow GoldfinchGreen-back GoldfinchLawrence GoldfinchPine SiskinSavannah SparrowWestern Lark SparrowWhite-crown Sparrowlfhite-throated SparrowGambel "NUttall "Paget Sound Whi te-erowned SparrowWestern Chipping SparrowBrewer SparrowSlate-colored JuncoThurber JUncoShufeldt JUncoSierra JuncoSan Diego Song SparrowSanta Cruz Song SparrowRusty " nLincoln SparrowFox SparrowSan Diego TowheeCanyon TowheeAn thony TowheeAbert TowheeGreen-tailed TowheeAlaska Pine GrosbeakBlack-headed Gro sbeakLazuli BuntingWestern TanagerWestern MartinCfiff-Swallow:Barn Swallowt.rree SwallowNorthern Violet Green SwallowBohemian Waxwizl&White-rumped Shr1koCalif ornia Shrike

951

18116

4852

17360

27901

129203

1399

26

101

1817S32

2063166

19822165412525379952909218

943

34164

152a15

Western Warbling VireoCalaveras WarblerLute scent II

Grinnell Waten ThrushTolmie WarblerCalifornia Yellow WarblerAudubon WarblerLong-tailed ChatPileolated WarblerAmerican RedstartMockingbirdCatbirdPalmer ThrasherCalifornia ThraSherLeconte ThrasherCrissal II

San Diego WrenCactus WrenHouse WrenSlender-billed NuthatchRed-breasted II

Pigmy II

Plain TitmouseBailey Mountain ChickadeeLong-tailed Chickadee:Bu.shtitPallid Wren-titRuby-crowned KingletWillow ThrushRusset-backed ThrushAlaska Hermit II

Dwarf Hermit "Olive-back nWestern RobinNorthern Varied Thrush~estern Bluebird

Total Individuals - - - .. - - -Total number of species and

subspecies - - .. - - - - -

4

l~116674

221

95133811312

10522

26181

111081

1212

~281616

16,306136

This list was compiled from 48 bander's reports, which weresent in to the 'iT.B.B.A. Those who banded over 500 birds are as fol-lows: Frank Farley, 4005; Michener Station, 2768; E.1f. Ehman, 1055;A. i7. Hull, 993; Mr. and Mrs. Ben Clary, 902; Ernest D. -Clabaugh,626; Carl Richardson, 528; E. B. MoCabe, 508. .

The species of which more than 500 birds were banded are asfollows: Franklin Gull, 3000; House Finch, 2766; Pintail Duck, 1846;Gambel Sparrow, 1817; California Gull, 1511; Redhead Duck, 92}.

At the Michener station 44 species were banded, and atthe Clary Station inCoaChe11aValley 36 species were banded.

Corresponding totals for the calendar year of 1929 are173 species and 20,115 individuals. This was compiled on reportsof 60 banders. The species banded in 1930, with a few exceptions,were of fewer numbers .than previ ous years.

:Blanche VignosCustodian of Reports

Experiments in Releasing :Banded:Birds at a distancefrom Point of Capture Suggests that Individual. Migrants Have

Definite Wintering Grounds.

:By E. L.Sumner

From October 16, 1930 to November22d, 1930, inclusive,I released 100 birds trapped in Strawberry Canyon, :Berkeley, atthe University of California experiment gard.ens. These gardensoccupy two city squares in a residence section of, :Berkeley, aboutone mile northwest of where the birds were trapped. The UniversitrCampus, containing many trees and consid~rable Shrubbery is ina direct ..1inebetween Strawberry CanYon.(Stat1on A) and the gardens(Station :B). There is also a small canyon just eas~ of LeConteA.venue, which is nearer the spot where the birds were releasedthan where they were first trapped. Comprising tbe 100 birds were36 Golden CrownedSparrows (Zonotrichia coronata) 32 Fox Sparrows(Passerel1a il1aca, subp.) 13 Santa cruz Song Sparrows(Me1ospizamalod1e. sentaecrueis) 11 San J'rancisco :BroomTowhees (Pipilofuscus petulans) and 8 San Francisco Spotted Towhees (Pipilomaculatus f&lciter). Sixty-one per ce~t of the Song Sparrows re-peated, 28 per cent of the Golden Crowns, and 53 per cent of theFox Sparrows; 38 per cent of the entire group had repeated up toApril 7th, 1931.

These birds, trapped atJ, and released at :B, repeatedas foilows: :BrownTowhees, 1 after 30 days; Spotted Towhees, 1after 5 dqs, 1 after 51 days; Golden CrownedSparrows, 1 after9 days, 1 after 11 dqs, 1 after 14 days, 1 after 20 days, 1 after76 dqs, 1after 3,04 days, 1 after 105 dqs, 1 after 111 days, 1after 143 days, 1 after 151 ~s; Song Sparrows, 2 after 2 days,1 after 3 days, 1 after 8 dars, 2 after 9 days, 1 after 19 days,1 after 75 days; Fox Sparrows, 1 repeated the same day, 1 after2 days, 2 af.ter 4 days, .2 after 5 days, 2 after 6 days, 2 after 7da;rs, 2 after 8 days, 1 after 37 days, 1 after 48 days ,1 after 71days, 1 after 110 days, 1 after 122 days.

The ten Golden CrownedSparrows Which repeated, averaged74 days between the date of their release at :Band their recapture

at .A.. The eight SongSparrowsaveraged 14 da;ys, the seventeenFo%Sparrowsaveraged 25 days, and the entire group of thirty-eight birds which repeated, averaged 36 da;ys.

. In a4dit1~ to ·theabove, JO%Sparrow410113, trappedat A on NO't'ember4th, and released the same·dal' at :B,was re-captllred by' meJebruary 21th, on the Universit70a.mpwJ1rhere Ioperated a trap for siz days. The spot where this bird was re-captured is about.ha1f waybetweenA and :B, and almost in a directline between the tWopoints.

Manyof the birds were taken several times to :Bafterrepeating at A. In ee.chcase the first of the figures given be-low refers to theixulllber of 'times the bird was released at :B,and the second figure ind1cates the numberof times it repeatedat A. SongSparrows, two birds, 4 and 3; two 3 and 2; two 2 and 2;one 1 and 1. GoldenOrownedSparrows, two 2 and 1; two 2 and 2;five 1 and 1; one 3 and 3. 1'0%Sparrows, one 5 and 5; one 4 and 3;one 5 and 4; four 2 and 1; one 4 and 4; one 6 and 6; one 3 and 2;one 2 and 1.

.It will be noticed thatal thoU&bthese birds were alltrapped during the post-bree41ngseason, 78t at 1eaet 38 per centof them returned fair17 prompt17'to the location where they werefirst trapped. It is probable that a muchlarger percentage re-turned but were not. all i"ecaptured. !hese experiment's carriedout in the san Jrancisco13ay region corroborate similar experi-ments in the removal of banded birds to a distance, carried on atan earlier date in Southern Oalifornia b7 I.M. Pierce, J .L. Oobb,and E. L. S'u=ler, Jr. (See Oondor1927, Vol. 29, and 1928, Vol.30). Other ·usefULreferences to workers who, throU&bbanding,have reached similar conclusions in regard to wintering migrantsare: S.Prentiss :Ba1dw1J:1.,Auk, XXXVIII,1921, pp~ 236-231;Joseph Maillard, Oondor'XXXI,September-October1929, PP. 192-195;and Whittle and lletcher, .A.ukXLI, 1924, pp. 327-333.

In view of these facts, it seemsreasonable to supposethat migratory birds of somespecies spend their winters in thesamelocation., and that. this location is of sma11area,:",- largerconsiderably than the well 'known"territories" of the breedingseason, but still Tery constricted. In further support of thistheory is the fact that during the past siX months I have trappedtwo migratory birds in Strav'ber~ Cq'on, and found another deadthere, Whichwere banded in th$ sameCanTonfrom five to sixyears ago b7 !l.D. OlabaU8h.Mr. Olabau8hbas not banded.birdsin this canyon for several years, and during that t1methere llavebeen no other banding stations or feeding tables in· the tnmed1atevicinity until I began to trap last October, all ofmr traps beingwithin 200 yards of whereMr.Olabaugb used to place his. Yetthese three birds returned to the samelimited area this winter,

and it seems reasonable to suppose that they have returned, everywinter. One of the birds was a Golden CrownedSparrow, a specieswhich breeds in the mountains of British ColuDlbia, never in theUnited States. This bird was banded bY'Mr. Clabaugh 011 Februat'Y'7th, 1926. The other bird which I trapped was a Fox Sparrow ofthe dark variety; the subspecies was not determined, bUt it cer-tainly did not breed within 100 miles of BerkBlq, and in all prob-ability its breeding ground was in British Col'U!libia. Mr. Clabaughbanded it on February 22d, 1925. The birdwhieb I found dead wasa Dwarf Hermit Thrush, banded by Mr. ClabaU&bNovember26th, 1925.These thrushes breed in British Columbia and·.Alasm.

Do all, or do the majority of passerine birds return tothe same restricted area every winter,or, somewinters do theygo elsewhere? If they go elsewhere, is their habitat of one Winternear that of ,the previous year, or is it ma117 miles aW8Tt Thesequestions can be answered only by banding birds, and they are buta few of the problems which will eventually'be solved when we havemore banders -- banders who trap in both the, 8'UDIDS:t breedinggrcnmds and in the winter residence territories, and who will takeup the questions enthusiastically and in a scientific spirit.

Bird.s Banded at the Clary Stat ion

(Coral Reef Ranch, Coachella, California, !from the dateof establishment, February 28, 1929 to April 5,' 1931)

Editorial Note: Mrs. Clary was kind en,o;l18h.to ,send thefollowing list and notes in response to our eatne~.t plea.ding.Wewish the notes were four times as long. SUCha station, inthe heart of the Colorado desert, could not fail to be of the mostintense interest, while the number and. variety of th~ species isextraordinary and indicates resourceful and ot;lginal teehnique.What, we wonder, is the ratio of the birds of 'the cultivated desertof to~ to that of the desert wilderness of Y,esterdaY?

Mallard DuckPintail DuckSora RailGambalQuail.Band-tailed pigeonWestern Mourning DoveBarn OwlRoadrunner·Western Kingbird.Ashthroated n:rca tcher.Say Phoebe.Black Phoebe.

Sonor.aRed1r1q 31ackbirdWe8ternKeadQwlar~Arizona Booded Oriole.Bullock Qriol••Greeuback8d.,Goldfinch·La~ Gold:t1nch.Western Lark $p8no1rIhi te-orOWDedSpa,now*Qembel Spanoo,..,Western Cb1D1zagSparrowErewer Sparrow.Thur'beI'J'uDoo·House Jbobs Li~t·Abert Towhee.Blacld1eac1ed Gro,)eak*,Lazuli Bunt~Westel'D1'aaaBBr.

,911ff SwallowCew l'u.w1n~l1h1te-rumpeclShr1k8.Western Warbling Vireo.Lutescent Warbler*AudubonWarbler.Tolm1eWaroler*Longtaile4 Chat·Golden P~1eq1at,edl'arbler.Sap !braSher·Vestern Mockingbird.LeConte ~.asher..Cris,8al .J.~asher.Cactus wi,en.l1estern Rouae \1ren·RUQ1-Qrowne4 Xlnilet.We.tem 1,iobin."estern :Blueb1rd. ,. .

,Tot~ 'lnd1vidual birds banded-Total sPecies banded - - - -Numberof species caU8ht in trapsSpecies banded a8 nestlings or

caught in other wqs

26588

2061

107513

25212

182127112

1312412

121

~1

301145112

l.~$37

All Linnets, Goldfinches, Chipping and:Brewe1"Spat"rowlhave been caught in water traps, tor which we have u_d aD. ordinarydrop-door wire trap equipped with amall copper tube through whichthe water drips.

.An interesting indication of the variation in bird popula-tion at this station from one year to another is afforded by a com-parison of the three species most in evidence at the traps duringMarch.

L~nnets banded in March 1,930, 125; in March 1931, 1;Green-backed Goldfinches banded in March 1930, 65;

"11 " "It" 19)1, 82;Gamba1Sparrows 11 n It 1930, 72;Gamba1Sparrows "II" 1931, 14.

(The following communication from Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Wendleof :Barkervil1e, :British Columbia, is a very important contribution tothe e"(er1asting problem of how to band a reasonable number of warblers •.Anyonewho has had the luck toei t for hours by their feeding tablewhile it is covered with almost as many bright-plumaged breedingAudubons as it will hold, all performing the most unwarbler-like anticswith the stringy syrup, is to be envied. It is a pity that there hasbeen so much d,elay in sending the tidings to other banders. The let-ter is quoted in part).

"In 1926 we started banding.-------------. The Audubonwarblers were much interested and seemed particularly fo~d of sweets.In 1927 two males and one female were banded. In 1928 one, and in1929 two, maies returned. This year both males were again checkedand we estimate that there are more than one hundred warblers on thefeeding board, among them some Yellow and Yyrt1e Warblers.

"Wefind that the n-arblers are fond of cake crumbs and mealmixed With syrup so as to make a thick paste, (syrup alone will not doas their feet will stick so they cannot get away). :Brownsugar mixedwith almost any meal is also good•. Wefind them feeding almost fromdaylight to dark, and \'f'hile we have banded only a few they are easilytaken with the Potter, or, as a matter of fact, almost any trap.1I

tor all purposes, 1;lclUd111gmembershipand subscription to the News,manuscripts or Letters tor publteation, and the sale of

ttaps or books,is

Western !ird BandingAssociationMuseumof Vertebrate Zoology

!erlmley, California.

Classes otMembership-

W.B.13•.A..andCooper Ornithological Club

AssQciate - - - - - - $ 1.00 - • - - - -,Active - - - - - - - 1.00 - - - - - -Sustaining - - - 7.50 - - - - - -Lite (total, not yearly) - 50.00 - - - -

$ 3.503.5010.00

125.00

Membersoutside ot the United states add twenty-five cents tothe first three items of the last column(to pay additionalposta~on THECONDOR).If 9. o. C. dues have been paid direct, remit d1f-ference to 1t'.13.13•.1. .All classes of membershipinclude sUbscriptionto the News, an4 combtnedmembershipswith the CooperClub includesubscription to The Condor.

NewQB.A.Two-compartment!rapLowPrice Postage' :Paid

$1.50 in the United States; $1.75 in Canada

This trap, measuring 7!" x 8" x 9", is divided into two compart-ments each 41" wide, 8" high and 7!" deep and is madeof vertical wiressimilar to most bird cages. Each compartmentis provided with a dropdoor and automatic treadle of the type used on the Potter traps. Thetreadles are attached to the trap and cO'\mter-balancedso that the doorsw111not be tripped by the jar of a bird alighting on the trap or of theother door falling. J.d.justable feet are attached so the trap will restfirmly on any approximately plane surface. The trap is very strong,being welded throughout, and is painted with a good green enamel.

Published Quarterlyb7 the

Western Bird Banding AssoCiationat the

Museumof Vertebrate ZoologyBerkeley, Cali :fbrn~

Misoellaneous 1nformationRegarding SUbscription, Membership, Manuscript, Band Supply, Traps, and

Publica t10ns will be J'aund on the Back Cover.

ODeof the greatest difficulties with which the Association must contendis the great extent of its ownterritory, the dilute concentrati-on of its mem-bers, and the impossibility, except in perhaps two localities, of forming localchapters or holdmg meetiDg8e . !he ·reW1t ilf totb.rOw peculiar responsibilityupon the shoulders of the editors of the News, whomust discover the views oftheir fellows as best they lDlq, and reflect this luc'UBa non lucendo as beetthey can. - - --

Whatever affects the .:BurMu..Qf13iol4llgicalSurvqis of peculiar interest tothe Western :Bird :Banding.A.ssociation,tor the Western :Bird :BandingAhociationis very definitely a par~,f>t· ~ __ :eau .ot BiolO&ical Survq. Our efficiencydepends upon its efficieDC7, an.d that of ~br8nchto which we belong has notbeen and is not l1ke17 to be questioned. :Bu.tour pride isinvol ved in the repu-tation of:the Survq as a whole, -- to us criticism of it is not a matter ofdoctrinaire speculation but of keen perscmal concern. It the Survey shouldcease to exist bird-banding in .Americawould revert to the rare, private, andexpensive old-world type, and the associations wouldprobably cease to exist.

Therefore it behooves us more tl:\aDother naturalists to ponder the situ-ation which has been created by the great and bitter volume of criticism thathas been directed against the Survey withreepect to its work:and program forthe control of "predatory' animals. !Ihese criticisms have found utterance forthe most part in resolutions by the principal learned societies which are con-cerned with the higher vertebrates, in protests signed by the directors of thelarger .Americannmseumsand by leading s'udents of birds and mammals,as wellas in the livelier journalistic tilt1Dgs of such popular naturalists as Dr.w. T. Horna.dq and the NewYork gro'Upwhich has constituted itself the "Dner-gency Conservation Committee.a As far as mammalsgo the two sides of ,the con-troversy are best set forth in popular style in the December,1930, and theApril and May, 1931, issues of Outdoor Life, which is fortunately availablealmost everywhere; by W.C.Henderson of the Survq and by Professor E. R. Ballof the University of California. 'lhe case of the birds has not been so wellaired, but a paper in the current Condor, already in the lands of a large num-ber of our members, by Dr. Linsdale, while not primarily concerned with an ex-amination of the work of the Survey per ,!!., presents an admirable aDd rigidlyimpartial review of the available evidence from Cali fornia as to the fate ofthe -innocent bystander," whether bird, quaQ1"upedor humanbeing, in the courseof a large poison campaign.

In brief, the appalling campaign of avowed9xterniination which it is theintention of the Survey to launch with the ten million dollars voted for thepurpose by the last Congress is criticised as unjustified and unjustifiableby ~ facts. documents or invest1gat1C1l8 demonstrative of a correspondingli "gestock108S, - as depending upon "estimates n of such 10.88s which arechildish in their dimensions and their lack of substance, -- as involving in-evi table losses in fur and in beneficial animals to exceed the sumexpendedand the stock saved, without mention of the destruction of the living capitalwhencemight be drawn an eternal income, -- as involving upsets in the balanceof nature so f'lmdamental as to draw in their wakea. host of consequences s1,1Chas the rodent pl~es which have occurred and a.re occurring in Californ1a, --as being undertaken by the Sw-vey'U11de1' ~e leadet"ship' of mentramed 1Dlawor politics or promoted from the trap-line and·withOllt biological competence,and finally as presenting the strange picture of the Surv~, itself createdtlfor the st~ and conservation of "ri~ wild-life" abandoning both the

scientific sad conservationist activities whiChhave dist1ngu1sheQit for somanyyears to devote itself, in denial of the very terms of its organization,to the largest schemeof legalized butchery, destruction, and waste, which wasever directed against a:ayanimal other than man.

})]ring the last few weeks the committee of the jmerican Society of Mammal-ogists, appointed a year ago to investigate these matters, brought in a reportof unqualified censure. This is perhaps the most important occurrence since,in the absence of organized opposition, the appropriation was paased. PreViOtLsto that event resolutions of like purport, strCllgly emphasizing the need of re-turn to Boundscientific investigation of such questions, were passed by theEcological Society of America, and, most important to us, by our brethren ofthe Cooper Ornithological Club, with whomwe are constitut1oDally affiliatedand whose membership,largely includes our own. Hasty corporate measures tooppose the action of Co~ress were taken in both cases.

Webelong to the Biological Survey. The question naturally arises whetherwe are to. record the name of our organization in the long list of protestingnaturalists and cODservationists, or accept the somewbatprimitive "mycountry,right or wrong" attitude and let other, ~ the work from which we shall so .directly profit. In the mind of t}:j I'tebAt writer, at least, we have no choicebut Vigorously to condemnthe ten million dOllar prcigramand to strain ever:!effort, corporately and individually, through our correspondents, our congress-men, our local influence and the societies to which we belong to bring about afundamental reorganization of the methods, plans, and.viewpoint of the Surverin respect to the branCh in question.

Havea:D1'more of our Beaders noticed such Growths?If so, we hope they w11l write to us about them.

A 1IUIJ1berof our menibershave noticed morbid growths at the base of the billsof birds they have trapped and banded. These growtbs vary in size from that ofa small pea, to an extreme of about 1- in. wide by 3/4 in. high. In most cases,they have been preceded by head injuries caused by striking the head against thewires of the trap. During the past few months the writer has observed more thanthirty cases of head injuries amongthe birds he has trapped. 'lhase birds can-prise fifteen species, and there have been head injuries to every species butone (Plain TitmOtlSe)and only three' of tbat species were captured. Yet the mor-bid growths (about fifteen in all) have appeared on four species only -- FoxSparrows, Golden-crownedSparrows. Song Sparrows and Spotted Towhees.

Several of these birds have been found dead by Il\Vself or others; in severalother cases the growth has been found to have entirely disappeared when the birdsrepeated a few weeks later.

'.there is evidence that whatever causes the growths is CQl tagious, as a SongSparrow Whichhad been in capt ivi ty several months, and which had received nohead inj'urf when trapped, and had shownno sign of such growth, apparently con-tracted whatever disease causes it from another Song Sparrow introduced into thesame cage. The second sparrow whenplaced in the cage had the beginning of thegrowth, whiChgradually became somewhatlarger; it eventually entirely recovered,

while the first bird died about ten day's after the growth on its head appeared.

One of the lox Sparron was given to -the Boope;rFoundation in San Franciscofor examination. Dr. K. F. Meyer of the Foundation wrote us in part "I foundthat the growth consisted of an accumulation of pus and necrotic tissue aroundthe nasal openings..... I have the impr8ll.10n that the process around the headwas due to an infectlOl1s process in the· 'Opper respiratory tract. I made cul tures ,but could f1rJ.dno specific or«anlsm. !'he process of growth resembled micro-scopically and cultU1"&llyvthat is ,enerall;y described as roup in chickens. Theinternal organs of the bird were entirel, normal.If

Another bird, a Golden-crowned Sparrow, was turned over to Dr. S.T. Michaelof the University of California Veter1DaI7 Clinic. Dr. Michael made cultures.from the growth and. innoculated both domeatic chickens and another Golden-crownedsparrow. The result in both cases was negative, and Dr. Michael 98.id tl:at hewould not even hazard a guess as to the nature of the disease. :BothDr. Meyerand Dr. Miomel state that they are anx10118to co-operate with us in order toascertain the nature and ca'UBeof the growths.•

Ur. Joseph MaUl'-ard of the California Academyof Sciences, San Francisco,reports about fifteen cases of similar swellings in Golden-erowned Sparrows,trapped in Varin Count7, following abrasions caused by' s trik1:ng the head againstthe wires of the traps. lIr. Mailliard has not observed &n7 deaths caused by suchgrowths, and in a DUmberof cases when the birds repeated there had been completerecove17. Be states that since last October he has applied mercurochrome to allhead injuries, and. tbat no birds so treated, have, as far as he has observed,developed an.y of these growths.

Miss Grace TompkinSreports one instance of a similar growth on the head ofa Golden-crowned Sparrow, following an abrasion at the base of the bill. Thisbird was trapped at Palo Alto in February of this year; it repeated on March 5thwith the growth still visible, but bas not since been trapped.

Mr. and Mrs. Barold Michener1s experience with these morbid growths appearsto be unique, inasmuch as none of the growths observed were the result of injuriesreceived in trapping. Mr. Michener states that two or three years ago "quite auumber" of Bouse Finches trapped by him and Mrs. Michener at their banding stationin Pasadena were found when originally trapped to have growths the size of asmall pea at the base of the bill. Be also states that in no case did he findany growth following head injuries, and that Bouse Finches were the only speciesso attacked •

.A:rq of our reader.s who observe similar cases are urged to comnunicate withus. If the b:irds are near the :Bq region, we shall be glad to call for them.But if they are at too great a distance for that, will our readers not send. themto us, alive, if possible; or if dead, as soon as possible atter death, so thatthe bacteria of decomposition will not prevent proper examinationt

E. L. Sumner, Sr.:Berkeley, California

Gleanings from the Report Files

As we ranarked 1rJ.the last News, 1930 _s not a notable one in the matterof numbers. In so far as reported, Mr. Frank B. Jarley, of Camrose, Alberta,leads the west, and has "cracked" the coveted fOllr thousand mark with four thou-

sand and five birds, three thousand of· which,were Franklin and onethousana.Glauccfu8":W1ngedGulls, all .juveniles. with. eme each of the followi~: WesternWillet, Marbled Godwit, Long-billed Curlew, Pintail duck and Purple Martin.This is an achievement, and if Mr. Jarley can stq with, the same colonies andwrite a tree history of the plUIDa&esof the G~cous-w1ng.d Gull fran specimensof positively knownage, it will be an even greater one. To these must be added500 California Gulls and fow Caspian Tams banded b;yMr. Carl Richardson atKlamath lI'alls, and fourteen more Glaucoull-1f'1Dged'by Mr. Sprot on Vancouver Island,a promis1JJg total ot 4564 gulls known·to have been baaded on the coast. Whencertain new members on the Oregon coast get well UZlderwa;y we 'f1.JIq, therefore,expect reall;y huge numbers and fiDe returDII.

The )(iclumers were again first inUl1Dlberso;t species, - this Ume with 44species and 2768 birda. The Clary statton in the dessrt at Coachella banded.thirty-au species, Mrs. McCabein British Columbia.25 apecies and Wr. Allen atPasadena. 20.

Wehave comparativel;y few wildfowl reported, all, with the exceptiQn of afew Pintail banded b;y the AssQciatioa on the Los !anas refuge, to the .credit ofArchie V. Hull of Brigham, Utah (992 ~f' includ1~ 923 Redheads), Mr. Ibman .at Lake Merritt in Oakland, (1142Pinilaiilhd Widgeon), a:nd.Mr. Bion R. Tuckerof San Francisco (19 Pintail and Lesser Scaup). 'Ie know that other .bandillg hasbeen dcmeby certain duck clubs, and e2pect a new era in our knowledge of westernWildfowl to follow the general surve;y (to include mu.chbanding) which is bei~carried on by the Califomia Division of Fish and Geme,under the ilIInediatedirection of Mr. James Moffitt.

After the efforts of the Association itself as recorded in the last News,Mr. Tucker contributed most to the coot problem, with 179 birds banded, followedby Mr. Ehman wi th 46.

An unusual number of raptors have been banded, notabl;y by Mr. Bay Salt, ofRosebud, Alberta, whobanded 5 Horned Owls, 22 LODg-earedowls, 10 Pigeon Hawks,1 SwansonHawk, and 4 Fer:r-uginous Rough-legs. The Micheners in Pasadena banded4 Sharpshins and two Desert Sparrow Hawks, Mr. Wright M. Pierce in Claremont cmeGolden !lagle, and Mr. Jmersan D. Stoner 4 adult Burrowing OWlsat Benicia,California.

Other high-lights are 24 BohemianWaxwingsby Mr. Eric M. Ta1t of SuDmerland,B.C., Mrs. Lofberg's 9 Clark1s Nutcrackers and one Grey-orownedLeucosticteinthe high Sierras, Mrs. McCabe's Grinnell Water-thrush, Pine Grosbeaks, and herrare central B. C. White-thro~ted Sparrow, and Miss Erickson's sixty Wren-tits,banded on an acre or two of chaparral in,the course of intensive scientific stu~of its wren-tit population .and of the habits and behaviour of these intenselydiffioul t birds. Miss Eleanor C. ~ of San Diego achieved the feat of takinga Bush-tit. in a bu.tterfly-net. Mr. Jerrard, of Calcite, Colorado, notes onhis schedule "station inactive d'Urmg ;year on account of ~.JJ PerhapsMr. Jerrard has not yet developed the ornithologist IS conscience in respect tothese pestiferous items of our neighbors' personal property J

by John B. Price

A large flock of Brewer Blackbirds is found on the campus of Stanford

t1niversttt, Oalifornia, butver'1 fewffl' 'these birds ever enter the banding traps.Thewriter observed that nearly all ot'them roosted each night in the lower hang-ing' dead leaves of the fan palm trees in front of the quad. At a cost of aboutseven dollars he constructed a net of !riD.quito netting, 30 teet b;y 15 feet in sizefastened betweentwo 20 foot poles in an attempt to capture them.

Thisnetrequ1res at least three perSODS· to ,operate i1;.·successtullyand fiveis a better D'ODlber(tw~ t.o carrzthe poles aDd. t~ rest to bring up the rear nthflashlights and a stepladder) • !L'hetwoband.ers~ing the. poles spread the netbetween them, one going OD ODe Bide of the tree ...lmd one on the other meet behindand lap the top of the poles wigwamfashion s!)..that the lower portion of the treeis completely covered. Theother workers then rush. forward, turn on the flash-lights, mountthe ladder and seize thtt 'emited bird_through the net and "orkthemdownto the 'bottomwhere they are talam out, bandedaDdreleased. Thenetis then talam dOwnand used. in the samemmmeronthene%t tree and so on.

This net is far from being 100 per cent effective as it is rather unwieldyespecially ODa wind1'night, and.ome of the birds escepe before the poles arebrought together, as well as thrwghthe ()JeDingthat ofteD ('UD1essthe tree i8small) must be left at the top. In spite'of these defects a party of five withthis net captured in one even1ngJ8Brfter blackbirds; 16 house finches; 1 golden-crownedsparrow; and 1 Pu&etSoundwh1te-erowned,sParrow.

BANDING NUTTALL .AND GOLImf-OROlmED SPARROWS .AT

WOODACRE, OALIFORNIA

b;y Joseph Mailliard

In the 1929 Septembernumberof The Oondor.the "riter gave an account ofsomeof his observations connectedwith the previous season's workof baDdingNuttall and Golden-crownedSparrows(Zonotrichia !.. nuttalli and ~. coronata,respectively) at his WoodacreLodgestation, in KarinOounty. In answer to arequest frcm the editors ot "Newsfrom the Bird Banders" for somefurther ob-servations of thi8 80rt the following is offered.

The workat this station is confined almost entirely to the banding of thesetwo species ot eparrow, as there is not enoughrepresentation at this place ofother birds to ma.k8it worth while to workwith anything else. but a few otherspecies do comeinto the traps -- mostly song sparrowsand towhees. In conse-quence·of this limitation the "season" is confined to tall, winter and earlyspring, from the first appearance of Zonotr1ch1a'Unt11' the end of the springmigration. The tact of not being able to be continually present, however, is agreat handicap to thevriter, as banding can be carried on only for two or threedays at a time, say four or five times in a month, and even less than that whenstorms and cold weather interfere.

Thewriter's lot is less than a hundredyards fromhis old home,nowealledWoodacreLodge, aroundwhichgrows shrubber'1attractive to this group of spar-rows. Onthe lot stands a cl'UIUPof liTe oaks, brushy beneath, it is true; therewas nothing else to attract the sparrowsand they did not go there much. Two

large piles of brush were placed near the live oaks, with the idea. that the birdswould l;1.keto hide in these piles so near the oaks to which they would have easyaccess. An automatic' feeding station was arranged beside the brush pile nearestthe oaks. The birds soon ca~t the idea, the scheme is a great success, and thebrush piles are usually well occup~ed.

Naturally, one of· the objects in banding migrants is to note all annualdif-ferences in the species Whichappear and in the number of the regular migants.

Someof the results of the first banding season at Woodacrewere given in thearticle mentioned in the beginning of this paper and need not be repeated. Now,with three seasons of banding at that station, somedata for comparison are avail-able. In the following report of species and numbers of migl"atory sparrows foundthere the time chosen for comparisons is from the beginning of fall banding untilNovember9 of each olthe past three years, because work was systematically carriedon between these dates, with about the same intervals between visits to Woodacre.The first season, unfortunately, was interrupted by the absence and 11lness of thewriter. The opening of the banding season in this case depends upon the first ap-pearance of the sp~ows in greater numbers than merely a few stragglers. The Nut-tall Sparrow always appears first, but its night does not last long. It is usual-ly practically over by November1, and its numbers, so fer, have been small. ,

!1be1925-~ season opened on October 2, with but little else in the way ofmigants than Nuttall Sparrows for the first two or three days, after which theGolden-crowned Sparrows appeared. Up to and including November9 there were banded35 Nuttall and 355 Golden-erownedsparrows. .Amongthe former there were few re-peats of a:ny importance and none stayed on through the winter. Yost of the Golden-crowns either went on again soon after banding, or else repeated to a small extentfor a week or two and then disappeared. These will be spoken of as "non-repeaters"and "short timers." The Golden-crownrecord then stands as follows: Total bandedin comparis()n period, 357; non-repeaters and short timers, 309; persisting repeaters,4s; number stl1lpresent and repeating in late February whenwork was res'UJIled,36.These last mentioned probably remained through the winter.

The ~-3.Q. season 0l>enedSeptember 21, as the m1gants were earlier than inthe previous year in maldng an appearance. In the comparison period the Nuttallwas again the first on the field and this ti1D8appeared in Il'UDlbers,113 being band-ed. Also came with it S GambelSparrows (~. !.. pbel1i), making the first authenticrecord for Marin County. These straggled along from October ~ to OCtober l~ anddisappeared when the Nuttalls Movedon. TheGolden-crownsappea;-edin slightly less-er numbers than in the previous :rear, 332 being banded. Of these there were 206non-repeaters and short-timers, 126 more or less persistent repeaters, of which 30repeated occasionallY' in the nnter and lS were chronic repeaters.

In the !9.3Q.-ll seasOn the birds ..••.ere again later in date of appearance, sothat trapping was not begun until September 27. Migrants l1ere scarce all throughthe season. Only 10 Nuttall Sparro..••.s were banded. 'no Gambelsturned up and thebanded Golden-crowns numbered only 164 in the comparison period. Amongthe latterthe non-repeaters and short-tiD8rs numbered95, the more persistents 69, of thelatter 25 appearingooeasiOnally through the winter and 35 repeating right along,

.As mentioned elsewhere, the first season of banding at WoodacreLodge was mostunfortunately interrupted by enforced absence of the writer, so that it became arather arbitrary matter what should be designated as a spring IIreturn. tf It seemsreasonable to assume that birds which did not reappear unt il March 15 shoul,d beclassed as belonging to this class, On this hypothesis there were 16 spring re-turns of birds banded in the fall of 1925. In the next banding season there were~up to December31, 1929, 44 returns from this first crop, 5 in the spring of 1930,

13 in the same period in the fall of 1930 and 3 in the spring of 1931. Of thesecond comparable banded crop. of the f~l of 1929. the returns are; followingspring. 7; next fall (1930), 39. in spring -of 1931. there were 13 returns of the1929 crop. Of those banded in the fall of 1930, 13 returned in the followingspring.

The above figures easily prove that the Golden-crownedSparrow either ex-periences a heavy loss in numbers in its winter eoJOW'D i~ California, scattersout during its spring journey to it s nesting ground in the north country, orthat the majority of survivors select for the spring return a, different routefrom that taken on the southern journey in the fall. This is a matter aboutwhich Put little can be ascertained until there ate ~ more bird banders atwork in appropriate places than there are at present~ So far, in the experienceof the writer. mozotality seems to 'have a good deal to do with scarcity of springreturns In a given place and this should be indicated bT small representation ofadult plumage in the fall birds. As the latter mq be more wary about entel·ingtraps, or more able to escape a collec,tor ofspec~xis~thanare the younger genera-tion, it is not so easy to reach definite conclusions on this score as it mq atfirst appear. but the writer hopes to have more data for a paper on this subjectat a later date -- if he lives long enough to get sufficient data to prove anythingJ

From what is recorded concerning the second banding period above referred to,it is plain that this was a banner fall for the Nuttall Sp&rrowmigration and itmay be of interest to s8l' that, besides, the record fli€pt of GembelSparrow, therewere some str~ song sparrows that showed'UP, of the subspecies called theMendocinoSong Sparrow (Meloepiza melodia cleonens1,). as well as enoughof an increase in theMarin Song Sparrows (Melospiza ~. gouldi) that came to the traps as to indicatesomething of a movementin that local subspecies.

One of the matters of interest in the banding work at Woodacrewas the takingof blood samples frMD.a number of sparrows. principally Golden-crmmed, for exam-ination by the Harvard School of Tropical Medicine, whieh was done by special re-quest.. This work was very' carefully done and the repeating of the individual birdsinvolved was eagerly watched for, to see if any harmful results bad followed theoperations. Muchto the relief of the writer a good percentage of these individ-uals repeated and none of them showedany signs of injury. In fact a good manyre-peated the same dq or the d.q after the eampl~s were.taken, from which opera.tionthey did not even flinch in the first place, so the fine needle used could nothave given muchpain. A certain number of these birds were found to carrymalarialgerms, which did not havemucheffect upon the he~thoft;hehost, as a good percent-age of the infected ones ahowedup again during thena:xt season, apparently in thebest of health. One or two had somewhite patches upon the skin and constant, watchwas kept for returns of these indivic'tuals, but they did not showup again.

At first more or less trouble was experienced with cases of injury from birdsstriking their heads against the wire of the cages and breaking the skin. as an ab-normal growth was apt to form in healing, especially in wet weather. Whenthis wasfound out mercurocbromewas used upon such abrasions ~andno banding wa.scarried onduring wet weather, when the matting downof the feathers of the head destroyedtheir protective quality and more abrasions resulted. Since the mercurochromehasbeen used there has been no serious trouble of this sort.

The writer had intended to include -in this paper a description of the home-madea.utomatic feeder used at Woodacre, but space allotted for these observations is sonearly taken up that this will have to be postponed until some other time, whenadescription will be given, if there should be a demandfor such a thing.

California Academyof SciencesSan FranciscoJune 20, 1931

Readers of the Condor and the Newswill remember that, at the request of theBiological Survey, the Association mdertook to develop means of banding black-birds and coots in quantity. There is abundant justification both from thescientific and economic point of view for spending t1nie and effort lavishly onboth problems. The economic status of the birds, especially in the rice belt can-not be determined, and the appalling campaigns of destruction by poison with whichthey are threatened, especially in Oalifornia, can neither be intelligently studiednor combatted, until the habits and movementsof both birds are lmown. Andhowlittle we knowof e1ther only becomes evident whenwe turn to the literature of thesubjects and find no ans..-ers to tlle most elementary questions, such as the mannerand 11mits of the migl"atory movements.

Our 170rkon the coot has alre8LV been told in detail. During the late winterwe began to experiment with the blackbirds by baiting JIl8IIY localities in the Suismdistrict with whole barley and wheat. These experiments met 17ith no inmedtate suc-cess in the majority of cases, as the immenseflocks appeared to wander in a moreor less irregular manner during the diurnal feeding time, and could not be reliedupon to find a baited area. They evidently roosted with considerable regularityin certain tules, however, and the last baited area, pl8,Cedonly a few hundredyards trom such a roosting place, was found and several sacks of gl"ain cleaned up.Wehad begun too late, however, and the site could not be developed, as our ener-gies during the ensuing weeks were concentrated upon the coot.

After the coot ceased to be easily caught at Los ~os we returned to theproblem of the blackbirds, this time in the Sacramento valley rice fj.elds. Bythistime nesting had -begun. Dr. Storer and Mr. McOabemadea preliminary reconnaissancein late Mayand found several rookeries. of Tricolored Redwing (agelaius tricolor).OnMay30 Dr. and Mrs. Linsdale, Miss Erickson, Dr. Storer, and Mr. McCabereturnedto these rookeries, began work at noon on satur~ and continued through most of thedqlight hours until SUIld.a:vevening. During this period a total of 2150 nestlingswere banded, of all sizes, from the smallest which can safely carry a band (fornumber twos will slip off the feet of a new-hatched bird) to manywhich had to bepursued through the tops of the tules.

The work was done in the Pale gl"een tule jmgles sometimes ankle deep andsometimes far deeper in water, with a small stOt1l1cloud of screaming adults hover-ing above each bander's head. The hot valley sun was pitiless, and we feared lestkeeping the parents from the nests might cause injur,y to the f;roequentlynakedyoung,but in the course of rehandling a great ma.nybroods towards evening the writer atleast found no case where such injur,y seemed to have occurred, while the manner inwhich the parents had been able to canpose and smooth out the dishevelled young,so awkwardly replaced by inefficient humanfingers, was very reassUring.

for all purposes, including memberShip and subscription to the News,manuscripts or letters for publication, and the sale of

traps or books, is

Western Bird Banding AssociationM'Useumof Vertebrate Zoology

Berkeley, California.

Classes ofMembership

W.:B.B.A.andCooper Ornithological Club

Associate.Active - - - -Sustaining - - - -Life (total, not yearly)

$ 1.001.007.50

50.00

$ 3.503·50

10.00125.00

Membersoutside of the United States add twenty-five cents tothe fiTs'ti three items of the last column ('to pay additional postageon THE CONDOR).If C. O. C. dues have 'been "naid, l~.i!ect, remit dif-ference to W.B.B.A. All classes of mem1ership include subscriptionto the News, and :.:;om'binedmemberships m.th the Cooper Club includesubscription to The Condor.

NewW'.B:BATwo-compartment TrapLowPrice Postage Paid

$1. 50 in the United StatQs; $1.75 in Canada

This trap, measuring 7~" X 8" x 9", h divided into two compart-ments each 4!" wide, 8" high and 7~"deep and is made of vertical wiressimilar to most bird cages. Each compartment is provided with a dropdoor and automatic treadle of the type used on the Potter traps. Thetreadles are attached to the trap and counter-balanced so that the doorswill not be tripped by the jar of a bird alighting on the trap or of theother door falling. Adjustable feet are attached so the trap will restfirmly on any approxinately plane surface. The trap is very strong,being welded throughout, and i8 painted with a good gt"een enamel.

Pu.bli&he,dQuarterl;Vb;r..~ ..

Western B1rd~B&ndiQgAssociationat the '

MUseum of Vtrteb~ate Zoology~rlr;elQ', california

Miscellaneous InformationRegarding· Subscription, Membership I Manuscript I :BandSuppl;VI Traps and

Publications wUl be Found on the Back Cover

The function of i ~Cal,ifornia state. banding permits, whichup to thepresent has remained in tl:a.e=heI'_otMr ..•..RO'bftt.O'IlatBuenaPark, has beentransferred to the office of the Association at Berkelel'. WetreasureMr. RobertsonIS connection withbaDcl~ 80 highlJ' that we regret the severanceof a:q tie, howevertechnical :1It '~iM)of.~ ~ labor whichhe dedicates toorni thologJ through the ~J!I8Ilt .0ft.~'QoORer. ~ub l we are satisfied tofeel that his burden i8 .ClIIiIw!I&t"·lSWht~"'the~cl!IaIIp.

In the future as in 't'he ~(~' ..AH()ctatt~'l'eceives applications andissues permits as the accrecU.t.a ~t ol••• ·~nate Division of Fish and Geme.Thepermits are signed with the Dame LeoI. Wilson, of the Bureau of Educationand Besearch, and were in the past initialed bl' Mr. Robertson. In the futurethe signature will be similar, but rill be init1a.led with the nameof theAssociation and the offioer in charge, (President, secretarl', or BulinessManager). Owing,however, to the increasing difficulties of the law-enforce-ment braDChwith illegal bird-trappiDg for sport or food, the Division hasasked that the permits hereafter, together with a duplicate, be forwardedthrough them, in order to proVide this branch with a ccmplete file and theopportunity to cheCkpossible undesirables previous to issuance.

Therecent correspondenceprovided an opportunity for discussion and sug-gested ~ improvementsand minor chaDgeswhich will go into effect with thenewyear. Ch:IBf amongthese was Mr. )Iofn tt IS suggestion that the nuisanceof annualrene-.l of permits might 'be avoia,d bl' the remowl of the time limit.In order, however, that this aho'O.14 not rasUlt in losing traCk of tile permitsof the considerable numberof banders whodrop out after a short trial, andthe possible resultant abuses, it was decided to makethe continuance of thopermits dependupon the ammal receipt, by the Association, of the regularsummarizedbandiDg report, on the WlmA. form on or about Januarl' 1 of each year,or a note, on the sameform,indicatiBg temporar,rsuspension of actiVities.This involves the establishment, in California, of an official and completeseries of state banding records, of which the J.ssociation is the custodian.It must, of course, be rememberedthat weh reports, in the recentll' adopteds'Ulmlarizedform, demanda neglicible amountof time and effort. Ja.ilure tosUbmit these reports within reasonable time, results in the automatic cancel-lation of the permits.

As is especially desirable, considering the length of time the newper-mits will be in use, the old mimeographedsheets will give place to a smallprinted card, bearing the conditions of issuance on the back. These will beprinted bl' the Division of J'ish and Gameand supplied to the Association, aswill newly adopted forms of application for the state permits. All applica-tions and correspondence relative to permits Bhouldbe addressed to the WBBA.Beside the present explanation of the newmothods, announcementswill shortlybe madethro-ughthe columnsof the Condor, and JIJIq, if it appears advisableat the time, acc~ all the newpem1ta in the form of a printed or mimeo-graphed memorandum.

The read1' and helptul interest in band1l:lgand its problems, and the gen-eral spirit of cooperation displqed bl' the officials of the Division has beenan encouraging aspect of the reorganization.

ProfessorO.A. Stevens has (}eveloped independently in North 1)akota somethingwhich none of the established periodicals possess ,--vb., a weekly lleol'Umn"I(dis-tributed through the spr ingby the North' ·D!lkotaAgricultural College HewsService),which consists of an admirably inf'o·rmedrunningcOD:IIn811tonthe rush of· ornitho-logical events' of that locality and','s8&son.Blrd-Lore 's splendidly organiZednation-wide review, "The season" is on toef large a scale to possess the semelocalized character and' Charm, 8l1d i8 publi8hed at too infrequent intervals forthe quality of news and even dramatic suspense which recalls the diaries ofclassical naturaJ.'lsts such as White,iiu.ringmigre.t1on time. To carry on such apiece of· work requires a facrolty for developing and retaining the interest ofrna.ny cooperators, and if, as we hope ~. be 'the case, these papers are distrib-utedwidely through an agriculturalpopulation,thelr power to preserve the fast-waning rural 81D1P&thywith birds may be very great.

It is always With a pleasU1'esld.ll to triumph that the Association welcomesnew banders in the more outlying statel of the western area, farther from theconcentration of banding in California.w.benthe newcomerbrings into the folda trained naturalist such as Mr. IcrMon x,.Bargrave, Assistant Director of theMuseumof Northern Arizona, at Flagstaff, our satisfaction is doubled, and whenwe hear of his intention to work throUgh bandihg on specific scientific problems,notably in connection with the juncos, it reaches its elastic limit. In thehands of Professor RoW&.n,'sofar north, j\1nc08 bave been the media of distin-guished research in ornithology, not unconnected with trapping and banding.Mr. Hargrave 801icits O<:lntactWith Arb<:lJ1abanders or arq others, such, we pre-s'Ume,as operators of stations where great numbers of juncos are taken, withwhomhe might· cooperate in this work•••.••*•••••••..••••••••

Another new IBM member',Mrs. H.E. Cook of Redlands, California., has sentus a most interesting list of birds which ahe identified between March 21st andJuly 1st of this year. Fifty-two species were fcnmdby her in Redlands, many inher owngarden, and 30 in the san Ber:nardino Mountains, near Big :Bear lake, atan elevat1onot 6800 f.t. Western Black Phoebes and Western Tanagers were in herlists at both places, ,80 that the total number of identified species was 80, ina period of less than fifteen weeks. Mrs. Cookhas taken out a banding permit,and will band in the yard of her residence in Redlands, where she should obtainsome interesting records.

Mr. Charles M. Wheeler, Assistant in Entomology in the College of Agricul-ture at Berkeley, asks help in the ~therlng of material for his work on theticks of California, -- a type of s,ssistance which all banders are in a posi tionto render, and have rendered in notable cases. Mr. Wheeler IS letter of explan-ation, in part, follows.

If-----ticks are carriers of certain serious diseases in man and domesticanimals, and considered in the ligbtofthe increase and spread of these dis-eases in California as well as in many other parts of the United States, a sur-vey of this state for the tick population will be of great value in the deter-mination of the existing species of ticks and will also aid in the securing ofimportant specific data as regards their localities, hosts, and approxtmateabundance.

b commonticks ~ be foun~~on azw'.of our da:nestic animals and 'UPonman.AJ.sov,pon'birds, lila:rd:B, snakee"tr~aJ, rM'bit4t. s,qu1rre1eand almost.~ wildan1mal. --------. b~ parts- of the-·l)oW'~~ frequentl1' attac1te.don the bird andanimal host'S W tb.e.e.ctOJ>U"asi~ ••• ~~'betweenthe lege., OIltbe neck, ears,and head of the 1".1" dane.l.tiQ~J,maJ,.."'~I;1;he lfilI,.. ~4· on the:bead and neckof manyof the b~;., on, tl.le n.«toJE ne1OSl'~ •• ~, aacl~, ot rnan¥'of tlw empb.ibia,on the neck reg10n ofJIINIYof~e,.~ ..,,01.' of rept.Uee.

tf';r I;~ t,.. !e * >~" >'. r' .'

Hostsahould be ealllined;,~.lT:,forl .iD:IDa.;tw .• fo._ end:~, ad\;Ilta, and theticks remoVedcaref\ll17.0"8:QC)t~t~b'" t.e, moutaparts tJ'OJil,t;be bodie. of thespecimens. TiokstrOlJ1cl:LtferentAo.~ _Q\1l4,l>:eplaced lJ1-.pa.t*t., POn$ainersand submitted either C'liv'"J1.plll ••bo.J~i)Iltftg1Jl&.trs.Ps ,at,~. or preservedin viall partially fUled with·..~ al~ol' o~~.formlin.;~C!'On~iner shouldhave the following infornation accOIDpaDl'iDgit: - host, parts of host attacked,approximate abundance, locality andapproztmate elevation, date oollected, andcollector's name. I should DlIlCh preter the ticks sent in alive, as certain lifehistory stuclteaand· inveat1ga.tiODaare to 'bit made.

This work is belDe.·.oarriedonKl' con.1Uo~it)nutb t~ Ua1tec1States Bureauof EntomolOQand the UDiverstty otCalitonlla--~-"-."

""

Theo1;l1erda7- -.re pz.1N;. wlth,t;u.iet,pride at a block ot'thenewotfic1alletterhead .ich the BuIlins•••••.• pr ;ba4. DOt- i>Dly'bout;b.t..butcontr~ved, by'whitemagic knownonly to himself, to Pal' tor. It·was satlstactol'7' to see and feel, --white, solid, neat, its rampart of edges,atill clinging delicately from theknife, - hUAdredsof potentW square feet 'of proselytiDg, propacenda, argument,gossjp, ~d. tAos. rare little' DOtes.inregu'dto our outstanding bills-receivableto which the .8U1e Buslaesa Muagergivea INCA an UZ1COQIlOnl7awat turn. But as welooked our aat.lsfpctio$l f!JJoVe W&7 to a creeping 8811sationof' sp1J1al.chill, for weourselves .~. been lvpl.7reap<>ntible· tor t!.Ie COP1'.•.and had bec~ agonizinglyaware of the b;L~ aAcl.~nated'PfACe between the halves of the word.·bird-banding.

.Nearest to hand lq the beautiful copy of !..Im2 WDDIG iY SYS'I!BlW1TIOmAP-

PINGwhich we oweto Mr. :Baldwin's recent generosity, resplendent in the costlyand punctilious format of the newOleve18lldMus8Ulllseries. Reassured by thetitle and hopiDgfor sometechnicalit7 applicable to capitalized compounds,weturned to the text, to find the phrase:

"its· special cozmectionwith the early ~ bpdinc operatiOU's.,---etc."staring at ue iran the second page of the lntrodu.otion, all in lower case. Thiswas going rather far, and even our faith in Mr. :Baldwinud the Ole'98landeditorswas shaken.

Webster"s, the Century, and the lew English Dictiona.r;v1gno.redthe existenceof the word.

The Manualof Style of the ChicagoUniversity Press (whicb.even the editorof the CondorapprovesI), confirmed the ·worst. Nocompoundwords escape thehorrid linkage of the byphenexcept in a few cases by a complete union, and intitles, second componentsare not capitalized "whenother than nouns and properadjectives", as in "English-speaking peoples."

· . .

Byth1iact.1mi bmatter- hadbecorpe' c" &IlI1e,so"e·, .• t 'UPa 8Core board withtwo co11Dln8,hF,phenaagainst: blaJJka,aDd,began acain t.nthe middle of the MaIxual.By the end of theflrat .~tv ,when.~_found it. necessary .to take1ndef1nitetime out, the h1Phens were leading b7 three to two.

ObviOUlllyMr. Uncolnbad been caupt in ,the seme,to11s, and.'bad extricatedhimself bY8impl,.alternattng andshow:l.ng nofawr. This, ,wee~clabled, is thetrue solution, and we offictalJ.yadaptit.' Let it become·the ..fixed e4i torialpoU.cy of ·our ownpUbl1ca.tion,·tbe ,well••k:no1m. H1JWSFBOUllD-------j-we meanto 88l', oftha.nne-letterwe Mud ar.ound to people whoband ;birds. .

Ha:rtng Dccuion. to go to ..Tonlllto 1 tr1ft4 to vi,eit as.maDT bird' students astime would permit. The first was Mr.· a.M. Bl'yene,of McM~llan..Mich:l:gan. Mr.Bryens lives with his parents on •. 8III81l,faz1nwhich produces ~;f~'t andflowers. ·DIe land wa1tor1g1ual,17'WOOdedb\1t, t~eare llOW,no woodewithin 20rods of the buildi.nga. '.Hiltintertat1Dg captures of snowb"Wltings have been ma4ewith &BparrOWtNpOll a low.platform. at ;the ~aJ:d., Se ~an interestillgs1mpl•• Vi.ce for conver.:tinga gathering cage ato a ,trap .li.ebas a very com-plete reco:Nl ofallbirda _en eY817dt!q.for the last 7- yeare, (lacking 3 ~s I)

~ next .stop waaat SaUlt ste •. Marie. Mich., to s~~. M.J•. ¥agee.ho hashad such success with p)lrple fincheS.. His 7801''dis 1'811 woodedaDdis on a hillabove the river. Most of his traps seem to be operated with strings from thehousew1ndow•. ' Several bird. were about and pileI of lS'Wl£lowershells gave evi-dence 0'£ .tDeamount of' feed U8eci. .~ Mrds (1 new, 3 repeats) were capturedat one pull for 'DJ7benefit.

At Gates .Mill,., Ohio., lir.BaJ,dwin wasnQt at hctne but :Mr.Johnson kindlytooIt:me about the place which includes about 10 acres well su.pplied 1'ith largetrees, bushes, poOls. etc. It adJoins a deep woodedgully- JI'he traps noted werechiefly thegOvermnent8,P&rrow type, also.ome tree-trunk types and. 2 house traps.Mr. Johnson stated that the birds rarely escaped from 'the .latter alt~ougb. tlledoors were opened about 8 inches. Only one olrd bad beentakenthatlOOrning,though an 'Unusual numberhad been taken recently. Intensive studies of the housewren are carried on with 400 nest boxes. The Bird Banding Laboratory is a build-iug about the size of an ordinary 4 room cottage. It contains the record files,

reference 'books and equipment, including the electrical apparatus for taking bo~temperatutea t scale for weighiD,g, etc.

Prof. Stack at East Lansing, Mich., and Prof. 1'agner at Madison, Wis., bothwere a'Vrtq• At AnnArbor, Mich.~ I JDet Mr. Woodand Dr. Van Tyne, making the very'briefest e~ination ot the wonderful collection otover30,OOO bird ~ins. Ihad the pleasure of seeing Ill8J1y books for the first time: Gould's "HammingBirds"in 5 large volumes with wonderful colored plates, the same.author IS "Birds ofGreat Britain" and others. I had a ~icular desire to see Cateabr's lINaturalHistory of Carolina", one of 'the earliest of .Americanworks•... It. was in a specialroom tor rare books •••2 large volumes (1 mostly birds) with quite good plates andlarge type in both English and J'rench.

The W.X. Kellogg sanctuary near Battle Oreek,Mich., was one of the mostinteresting points. Visitors are invited tx-eely and Dr. Pirnie, the director,was most kind. The dozens of birds which flocked to the shore when fed included5 kinds of swan8(Australian Black,. lhooping,MIlte, !rUmp_ter, Whistli.xlg), aswell as JJI&ny' dncks and geese. !LbeTasmaniaZl,Siberian and Barnacle Geese wereespecially of interest. A number of peacocks and several kinds ot pheasants werenoted.

Mr. W.I. Lyon at Waukegan, Ill., suggested that building traps was half ofthe tun ot banding. He said that whenever he saw or heard of a new trap he pro-ceeded to tr1 it. His place gave ample evidence ·in the wq of JDoanY traps, dis-carded traps, etc. He uses the government sparrow traps freely and thinks theymight as well be only 1 foot· higb, bu.t was inclined to doubt my idea of makingthem only 6 inches. Prominent in his traps is the tilting chamber idea. Yet hesmiled and shook his head when I asked which was the best trap. I was able tosee the famous wire-covered raVine trap in action and it 1s not so formidable asit sO'Unds. The enclosure 1s about 8Xl6x40 teet covering only a small section ofthe bed of the gully. Three receiving cages at different heights are provided atthe upper end. There are a few bushes inside and manywild grape vines on theoutside. At the time of my visit,·; P.M.,- August 25, 3 birds were taken out, anOlive-backed Thrush (first for the season). a Catbird and a repeating Water'lhrush. The other traps contained a 1'ater'1'hru8h, a repeating Thrasher and askunk& The two creeper traps happened to be open. Mr. lq'on said he had 10 Blackand White Warblers in them recently. Bis place is IUaely located. His office at124 Washington Street is only aoouple blocks from the lake abore and. there is afine view of the lake along there, the town being oonsiderablyh1gher. At hishome, about a mUe farther north the lake 1s farther aWfqbut his house 1s on theseme bank and the lot runs same distance out. 'I!hereare .~ trees of which thevery ancient pear trees attracted our attention eSpecially.

The few birds seen 'l1J8'3' be attributed to the time 01 year and lack of time.No real field trips were made. Myrtle Warblers and White-throated Sparrows wereheard singing in a blueberry bog in the North Peninsula of Michigan. Starlingswere seen at several places but were by no means conspicuous. At Wabasha, Minn.,on the morning of the last day (Aug. 27), a large flock of Blackbirds was notedand Bobolil1ks apparently in migration. .Anhour was spent in the Field MuseumofNatural History' at C".a.icagobut was devoted largely to other matters. A nicepassenger pigeon case' is near the entrance. In 15 mimltes at the Royal OntarioMuseumI found a case of albino animals, most striking of which was a fine beaver.There was also an interesting displq of birds nests each accompanied by a cardon 'Whiohwas neatly mounted the corresponding page fram the Bird Guide.

~anding Operations at Rosebud, Alberta during 1930-31I. Ra;r Salt

During the year 1930 lIl\V operations were confined to the banding ofraptors. I have been making life studies of these birds for some time and wel-comed the opportunity of furthering them by the banding of individuals. Myresults during the first year were very encouraging.

In all I banded forty-two birds of five species. The following listshows species banded and numbers:

Long-eared Owl 22Western Horned Owl 5Richardson Is Pigeon Hawk 10Ferruginous Roughleg Hawk 4Swainson's Hawk 1

I had no success with traps other than a wire basket nest-trap oper-ated by a pull string with Which I caught five adult birds. The remainingthirty-seven were banded as fledglings a few days before leaving the nest.

J.1though the banding of fledglings is not approved by the Survey, hereis one case where, I believe, little harm can come from it. My chief troublelies in the protection of nests from the raids of youthful and, in some cases,adul t, marauders who steal the eggs or kill the young. Little use for me toprotest despite the laws of the land. I am invariably met with the parrottedplagiarisms of certain Canadian "bird-lovers" whose remedies for the disap-pearance of bird life require the destruction of the hawk and owl but serenelyoverlook the direct and indirect slaU8hter, caused by man. After glancing at myrecords and finding that almost seventy per cent of the natural increase of theprotected hawks which I observed last year was destroyed by human beings I be-gin to wonder of the efficacy of our international protective lawa and of thefuture of our rapt or s .

Of two immatiJloe'Western Horned Owls 1,lnC-v5:'.T, ij.t( Sfffi"'l n~ct at Rosebud,!Lay23, 1930, one was shot at Antelope, Montana, fCVj: r:..allc.led. m'!.les d1stan~ onJanuary 8, 1931. So far as I can a.scertain there has ;)een no other return forthis bird from such a great distance.

The other was caught at Carbon, Alberta, thirty miles distant in anexactly opposite direction on July I, 1931.

An immature Ferruginous Roughleg Hawkbanded at Rosebud, July 7,1930was shot at Trinidad, Colorado, September 26, 1930. Another banded at Rosebud,July 8, 1930 was shot at Seagraves, Tems, December 9, 1930•

.Animmature Pigeon Hawkbanded at Rosebud, July, 3, 1930 was shot inthe Gila Valley, Arizona, December 12, 1930.

Peculiarly, although I banded a comparatively large number of Long-eared Owls, I received onl~r one return: this from an immature bird banded atRosebud, June 17,1930 and found dead at Fenn, Alberta, January 20,1931.

Long-eared Owl 11Sparrow Hawk 3Richardson's Pigeon Hawk 10Ferruginous Roughleg Hawk - 5Swainson's Hawk 10

I attempted to discover whether the same individuals returned to the samenests each year and my results were rather interesting. Twofemale Long-earedOwls were banded at their nests in 1930. In 1931 a female occupied one ofthese but when I caught her she wore no band. Another laid one egg in thesecond nest but upon discovery moved to another about one hundred feet dis-tant. She too when captured wore no band. Since the Long-ears use a crow'snest and since there were probably thirty of these within one hundred yards ofeach of the above mentioned nests this seems rather peculiar. The question hasarisen in~ mind - Does the male owl choose a new mate each year and guide herto his usual locality? This might be Bolved by banding but as ;yet I have beenunable to devise a method of capturing the males, which do no incubating.

This year a Pigeon Hawkhas occupied a nest in which the female was bandedlast year. I have been unable to capture her but have several t1Jnes noted aband upon m r leg as she sat in a tree nearby.

At the risk of spoiling a valuable and too brief paper by the anticlimaxof a stale editorial tag, we insist on adding our belated cheers to Mr. Salt'sremarks on certain increasingly notorious types of lIbird-loversll and the raptorquestion. Yr. Salt need not have restricted his remarks to Canada -- though weadmit there are certain acute points located in the higher boreal zones. As tohawk killing -- in theory at least, and among that "passionate few'! in whomthescience and mystery of birds lives and has its being, the battle is won, thetUmult and the shouting has died, and far be it from us to reopen such interne-cine war. In practiceJ unfortunately, and in the world at large, the oppositeis the case. The deep-seated cult of bird-protection, so well indoctrinated bythe great pioneers of economic ornithology that during our boyhood it was allbut universal, has been so insidiously attaclmd by private and governmentalagencies that the work of three generations is undone, and the very school-teachers and scout masters can find it in their hearts to preach the doctrineof lIdeath and no quarter II • That humanity is the loser to an even greater ex-tent than orni tho1ogy would seem to go without saying -- that the harm tochildren who are taught to pile up huge scores of orchard-haunting songbirdsand magpies is more important than the economic aspects, even taken at theirthousand-fold-inflated alleged value, mUJ t be beyond.question. Wehave heardmuchJ and seen someacute cases, but none worse than the fulsome press reportsof the results of the prizes offered by Major Allan Brooks to the youngsters ofthe Okanagan Valley for Magp~escalps. Personally we don't believe a singlecase of the need of indiscriminate large-scale bird-killing has been proved,but we are willing enough to grant at least honesty of belief and purpose on thepart of others. When,however, it comes to teaching children in a mass to killbirds competitively and find fun in it, it seems to us that the crowningabomination has been reached. T.McO.

Weremembervery few returns that interest us more than Mr. Salt's nestlingHorned Owlwhich by the following Januart,~ "migated" four hundred miles southinto Montana, very nearly crossing the boundary of breeding subarcticus andpallescens en route. This is an invaluable scientific fact, as important as itis fascinating. Part of our own surprise arlsesfrom our unproven but desper-ately earnest prejudice to the ·effect that our central British Columbia HornedOwls, in an area of rather more snow, nearly as intense cold, and a far longerwinter than Mr. Sal t 's, remained about U!l the year around -- part from a generalfeeling of the incompatibility of the Horned Owl temperament, habits, and flightwith a definitely migratory system of life. Horned Owls, for all the persecu-tion they suffer, manage to be abundant over a large part of their range, and itwould not be surprising for one bird, picking up a precarious living by the wayand driven from each new haven by the vested interests, to wander four hundredmiles between June and January in search of a territory, while its nest-matemight have drifted an equal distance in the opposite direction, as Mr. Salt'ssecond bird had perhaps begun to do. Yet there is published notice. based onskins, of at least are~ular north and south advance and retreat. Oberholser'srevision ot the Horned Owls (1904) speaks ot the range of subarcticus, thencalled Asio magellanicus wapacuthu (Gmelin) as "south in winter to the northernUnited States, trom Idaho to Wisconsin". Taxidermists of the middle west havenoted incursions of Horned Owls analagOus to the well-mown sporadic movementsof Snowy and Hawk Owls.

In the last News, under the caption "Gleanings from the Report Files" wewere guilty of a. seious error in crediting Mr. Farley with the banding ofathousand Glaucous-winged Gulls. Naturally, considering the inland Alberta sta-tion, the gulls "ere not Glaucous-winged, but, as Mr. Farley writes us, CaliforniaGulls, with a sprinkling of Ring-billed. Wesincerely apologize to Mr. Farleyand our readers.

In spite of such ill-treatment Mr. Farley has been generous enough to writeus an account of his recent work and a discussion of some of its problems. Itcannot be too often urged that finders of dead birds wearing bands send in notonly the band but the remains, and this of course is of supreme importance inthe case of gulls, almost all of which are banded as difficultly-or-not-at-al1-distinguishable juvena.ls. Wehave had a paragraph to this effect sent throughthe news service of the University of California to over 1200 local Californianewspapers, and we'urge residents of other western states to employ similarpublicity to disseminate similar doctrines. Remains may always be sent to usfor record and identification, and such corroboration is of extreme importancein crucial cases. It must be understood that we have no authority to speak forthe Biological Survey in the matter.

"This year I was absent from the Province at the usual time of ba.nding theCalifornias, and on my return we were only able to do six hundred, but thesewere all fine strong birds nearly ready to fly, and I hope they will give ussome valuable information of their migrations. The returns from what we have

banded average about 4% per year, and we have them from practically every statewest an.d south of .Alberta. In 1927 whenwe commencedthis banding by far themajority of the birds were Californias, while Ring-bills were in the minority.A careful sorutiny in the last year or so makes us believe that the Ring-billsare increasing rapidly at the expense of the Californias, that is, the latterare probably nesting in other localities while the Ring-bills are remaining intheir favorite grounds. It is unfortunate that so far we have been unable todifferentiate between the young of the two species. On the face of it it wouldseem that this should be possible, but there are obstacles in the VIa:3. At band-ing time, viz. fro~ June 18 to early in July, we find well-grown birds, just readyto fly, in every stage of €>Towthdownto eggs just hatched -- in fact there arealways a few young just leaVing the eggs, even on our latest d.q of band.ing. Thisgives us every phase of pl'UlD8.geand color .of down. I believe I am safe in sayingthat one can pick up twenty birds franone to twenty days old and every one has alittle difference in coloration of the various parts. .As they moveabout theisland they mix up like a bunch of sheep, and even thoU8h one species might nestin a certain sub-colony, all seem to get together during their wanderings over theisland and on their going and coming from the water. Because of this uncertaintyof species in our banding work, I suggested a few years ago that it might not beof muchvalue to continue, but it was considered that because of the large numberof birds that could be banded so easUy. the information gained, even of the twospecies, would be of val us.

The most outstanding recovery in my estimation, was a bird banded June 22,1927, which was probably ten or twelve days old. This was shot by Major AllanBrooks at ComoxB.C. on August 6 of the same year. This bird must have gone overthe Rockies and other ranges of six or eight llundred miles, then across the chan-nel nearly a hundred miles before reaching Vancouver Island, and it could not havebeen more than 55 days old -- a remarkable feat. Someof the same day I S bandingwere killed at the same time several hundred miles north of Camrose. Why s01Ileshould go north and somemake for the ocean is an interesting conundrum.

Another banded bird was killed by a golf -ball in flight and another pickedup a golf-ball as it rolled along the fairway, carried it to another fairway anddropped it, when another gull picked it up. I find that the recoveries made inthe far north are by half -breeds and Indians in the majority of cases, and byItalians in California and Mexico; tn the intermediate areas by hunters duringthe open duck season.

Wehave learned a lot on our banding trips, as to the food given the young.The greatest amount is tJade up of wormsof various kinds, principally cut-worms,and we have also learned that farmers living within a few oiles of the islandwhere the gulls nest are never bothered by cut-worms. The gulls are given thebest of protection by these farmers. Franklin Gulls are just as valuable, but re-coveries are rare in that species, probably because of their small size.1I

OnJuly 18 of this year while I was in Sa..'l Felipe Valley, in San Diego Co.,California, about fifteen niles southeast of Warner Hot Springs, I discoveredthe dead body of a full grown domestic cat which had evidently been killed by aneagle. The cat was lying under an oak tree and had evidently been rather

recently killed. ~ound it were. 8igns .of ",l.ife and death struggle --patches offur and bunches.of feathers •. Anxmg t:h~'1,a!lt,1ra8.,.Ii'pr~ that had apparentlyhad the quill split down. The cat t, ,DIOV.th wa. f'l?110.f'feathers. Also herviscera were torn out and some substantial. ste~ removed from her hindq'Jarters.I sent some leg feathers au.dthepr~ ~~tlo~.s. above ~Q Dr. Joseph Grinnell,Director or the Museumat 'e*te'bl'ale~91oQ',.Jer1tJr6y,Wb.o identified the latteras a primary off the left wing ot .&.na4~ t .tf.tDlal~ I10ldenEagle. J.13.SumnertScripps Institution of OceanographY,L8.J611a, ·California.

Mrs. SUeE. Van,ZeD4t, a recently enlisted bander of San Rafael, California,allows us to p~'bll~·'t!i'tollowi~ descri~t~n of a white, if not technicallywholly albino~juncc.1Irs~ Van ZSndt writes 'on July 20.

"I am ve't7 glad to tell ,.ou all that I can about the albino junco that ishere on the Peterson Is place. .

I saw it first A,bouttwo weeks ago. n was with three other Juncos and theyall became frigntene~ a~d flew to a pine tree across the garden.

I .saw itatlJeven the next mornlDi flutte~ing about the tlnTace like a littlesnowf'l.a. Tb,e·t~ee ;o~her JU1'.lCoewere 'tri,th it -- two :mat~e and one other iIIlD&-ture.n was 'boini; t'ed,alwost cont.~ll by it. father, whohad a ve17 blackhead, e:q.dthe contjo",sfiYas, ;-e&1l.1'.eo*al. '.It was plump,and heal t~ end snowwhite, for I'saw it il:i a'Perfect ligbt; also it was not a bit afrald of me andhopped very near, looking at mewith its be~ black eyes.

The other y01mgone was much,.-J,ler ujiJ.ookBd 1mder-nournished or younger.Also its feathers were not so sleek an.dtriD1and it was not so lively. It 100edlike any other immature j1mco. The,. had been out of the nest at this timeseveral dqs I am sure, for the prdtner eaid, he noticed the "hi te 'one aboutthree days before - and also their f't:t.ght lra8switt and true when the,. becamefrightened."

Shortly after t1).ie,M1;"s.tan Zandtce..t ..the ..bird, and t~oU&bher kindnessit "as visited tmd., e~ned in the ~4 <inSunday, September 27, b7 a party offive trom the Museumot Vertebrate ZOQ~()~ •.

With the l,ate S1,1DIDer mo~t the l'1eaa had;p(l~ set off against the immaculatebo~ in themo.t deltcate \tone 6fi>al".t ~8'\l-t.r~~ey. Seen from a tew feet thebody remaine4,s~ow White,. bUt e"J8Uitned'YOn' closely the contras~ between thenaturally whi,te outer and· the uatur$liy derk~~er taU fe.therllwas perceptibleand completed the suep8 t1on that on tba r;rv orbtack parts of the normal birdthe pigment "as not quite totally absent •. On the reddish-brown areas, as theback and nankl, it va. difficult to percC'.lve8D1'remnant of the normal pigment,though at certa1J:i points and in certain light, it .was probably possible to detecta faint yellow, as though the normal. color had been composedof a ,.e1low and ared, of \7hich a negligible trace of the forme:t had remained. The general impres-sion was ofrar~ and rather eerie be&'\1t7.enbanCed by' the absence 1Dnature, atleast in our temperate fraction of the earth, of such a thing as a small Whitepasserine bird.

for all purposes, inclug.ing ~mbershlp and subscription to the News,manuscripts or letters for pUblication, and the sale of

trapso~ books, is

Western!ird!ap.d1n~ AsllociationMU8e~ of Vertebra.te Zoology

Berkeley J California.

Olasses ofMembership

W.l3.!.A. andCooper Ornithological Club

l

Associate - - - - - -Active - - - - - - - -Sustaining - - - -Life (total, not yearly)

$ 1.001.007.50

50·00

$ 3·50, 3·5010.00

125.00

Membersoutside of the United States add twenty-five cents to thefirst three items of the last column (to PaY additional postage on THEOONDOR).All classes of membership incl'Ude subscription to the·Neus,and combined member~ips with the Cooper Club include sUbscription toThe Oondor.

NewWBBA Two-compartmentTrapPostage Paid

$1.50 in the United States; $1.75 in O~~da

This trap, measuring 7!" x gw x 9", is divided into two compart-ments each ~" Wide, S" hi&}l and 7!" deep and is made of vertical wiressimilar to most bird cages. Each compartment is provided with a dropdoor and automatic treadle of the type lBed on the Potter traps. The.treadles are attached to the traP andco'tmter-balanced so that the doorswill not be tripped by the jlU' of. bird alighting on the trap or of theother door falling. Adjustable feet are attached so the trap w111 restfirmly on any approximately plane surface. The trap is very strong,being welded throughout, and is painted with a good green enamel.

Michener Water (WaTbler) Traps - - - - - - - - $5.00 postpaidFour CompartmentFoldilig Potter Traps - - - - 4.00 II

••• ••• ••• ••• ••• •••

By far the most useful of the west coast manuals for the beginnerand for casual field reference by the more advanced student of birds.