i i; "I I'-.-,

Issued quarterlyby the

Western Bird-Banding Association

Word from the Micheners, Ralph B. Williamsand Walter I. Allen

Brief NotesOn the lazuli buntingLif·3 span of a violet-green swallowLittle brown cranesAn Ohio visitor

Changes in organizationAt SacramentoSouthwestern National Monwnents

Co-editors of the NewsMary M. Erickson, Santa Barbara, Calif.Frank M. Erickson. Salem, Oregon

President of W.B.B.A•••• F. G. Crawford2782 Glen Avenue, Altadena, Calif.

Address all contributions to the ~ toMiss Mary M. Erickson, S&lta Barbara State College

Santa Barbara, California

As custodian of the emergency supply of bands I have just put in anotherweek trying to make the records account for all the bands that have been issued, tak-ing into the records of the supply three assortments of bands that have been retu.rnedby banders during the past four or five years. putting the bands themselves into adrawer full of convenient boxes in which the band envelopes are placed and making aninventory of the bands on hand, copy of which is being sent to Mr. Lincoln (WildlifeService) •

Now,11!&l.~.§Q~ helJa from ~ver:l bander 1n the West. The bands listed be-low apparently have been issued from the omergency supply without being recorded.Please look at your records and advise the ~stodian if you have every received anyof them. Thank you.

The last appeal for such information (New§from the Bird-Banders, 17:25,October, 1942) brought information in regard to two of the seven items then listed.That everyone did not respond to the published request is proved by subsequentlytracing one of the items in another way. So we have cleared up three items and haveadded one more unknown.

The total list of items nowknown to be unknownis as follows:

Size 0 140-55,101 to 140-55,150 50 bandsSize 1 F-87,523 to F-87,700 178 bandsSize lA 41-115.901 to 41-116,000 100 bandsSize 6 38-663,090 to 38-663.100 11 bandsSize 6 39-663,901 to 39-663,914 14 bands

Please look at your records and tell me if any of these came to you.

Dr. Barbara D. Blanchard, University Farm, Davis, California, will be in-terested in receiving records from southern California of "first arrival" dates and"departu.re dates" for gambel sparrows. Please send her any such data you mayhave.

The number of banders active during the past year is considerably smallerthan formerly. Someof the names made familiar by reports which have come in withgreat regularity are missing this year. Wouldyou know the reason1 Read the follow-ing list.

Robert E. Taylor, 4033 Coolidge Avenue, Oakland. "Have been with the U.S.N.R. (Navy)for the pas t year. Il

A. V. Myers, Oregon State Game Commission, "l am going into the armed services verysoon. II

Clifford M. Greenhalgh, Kanab, Utah. IINo banding in the army."Louis M. Moos, 311 Wyoming Street, Billings, Montana. In the service since January

27, 1942. Now at Officers' Candidate School, Miami Beach, Florida.Robert Livingstone, Jr., Englewood, Oswego, Oregon. His wife reports that he is

II now in the army. 11

Thomas J. Release, Sparks, Nevada. In the Naval Air Corps. Pasco, Washington.William Webb, 2563 Hill Drive, Los Angeles. uln the service of Uncle Sam.1IGeorge C. Ehman, 37 Bellevue Avenue, Piedmont, california. In the service of the

United States Navy.Charles L. Remington, 5570 Etzel Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri. (Banded at Idyllwild,

California. ) Il I shall be in the military sel'vice•••Il

James V. Duff, 1922 Tamarind Avenue, Hollywood.. Stationed at Camp Roberts.William K. Gorsuch, Chico. Is in military service.Kenneth Alexander. Pacific Coast Militia Rangers, East Bay, Gambier Island, British

Columbia. Is Serge~lt in Marine Section.Franklin C. French. At Camp Hale, Colorad.o. Status not known.Grace T. Sargent. With Lt. (jg) Marston G. Sargent, Bureau of Ships, Washington, D.C.

Her word is ltHello to all the banders.if

Others are prevented from bandi!~ by pressure arising directly or indirectlyfrom war activities.Refuge Manager, Ruby Valley, Nevada.. "Due to limitations of personnel imposed by the

war."J. L. Partin, 2151 Balsam Avenue, Lo s AnGeles. "Because of war-time activities. IISherwin F. Wood, Hollywood, California. IITeaching schedule too heavy."Emerson A. Stoner, Benicia, California. "l am engaged in war work and have curtailed

necessarily banding operations. II

W. Ray Salt, Drumheller, Alta. "Gas rationing is practically prohibiting the bandingof hawks and owls in which we have always specialized at this station. Thesebirds don't come to us, \ve must go to them.ii

Others who report IIHo lJandingll show by the fact of a report their continuedinterest. Among them a~e: Ralph M. Imler, R. M. Bond, James C. Savage, James Gerow,Miss Blanche Vignos, A. E. Hull, Franklin C. French, Sydney A. Liddell, "Circumstanceshave prevented". Albert C. Hawbecker, "Will not be banding at least for a while.11

Doubtless most of the persons named above will appear again on the list ofbanders when we are back to normal times.

Concerning the query referring to the mention in my recent "News sheetl1

report of notes on a Birds' calendar, I will be glad to outline below some of thefacts concerning this record made of birds at Gran ~ivira National Monument. Thebirds' calendar at Gran ~ivira is a direct outgrowth of bird observations which weremade in order to familiarize the custodian with the local birds. This informationthen could be used in answering questions asked by visitors as to the various birds.

Bird observations have been made at most areas belonging to the SouthwesternNational Monuments, where permanent persolillolare in charge. Many of the observationsmade have been recorded in tho various supplomonts to the S~Qthwestern National

Monuments monthly reports since 1936. The most noteably of these were the observa-tions made at Montezuma Castle by Betty Jackson. Mrs. Jackson's notes finally weresummarized in "Special Report l'Jo. 2811 of the Southwestern Monuments, this report wasissued in November, 1941. Her results were based upon five years of the observationson the comings and goings of the various birds seen by her at Montezuma Castle.

The manner of recording such data as are accrumulated at this area is asfollows: 5 x 8 inch cards are used, and a card is assigned to each species of birdobserved, and such cards are filed under the month in which the bird was seen. Inthe majority of cases several cards are made for each bird, depending upon the numberof mont~s stay in the area by the bird. Each card then is filed under the pertinentmonth. Data recorded on the cards are given the dates of the times when the particu-lar observations were made. Such data relates to the day upon which the bird wasfirst seen or last seen, as the case might be, observations on nesting habits, feedinghabits, etc. Nesting habits are itemized, listing the day upon which each egg islaid, the day upon which the small birds emerge and the days when their variousfeathers appear. Finally the day when the birds fly. Such detail is possiblo butentails daily observations which if carried on with care do not disturb the parentbirds overly much.

One additional style card of the 5 x 8 inch size is used: a yearly ~~arycard, upon which the species of bird heads the upper left hand corner, and just be-neath in vertical arrangement the months of the year, and to the right in horizontalplacement the various years commencing with the year in which the bird was first seen.A check mal~ is placed opposite each month in which the bird was observed and underthe year in which the record was made. This is really the bird calendar as it showswhether a bird is temporary, permanent or intermittent. Accuracy of the calendar de-pends upon the number of years in which such records are made, as at first one is aptto miss a number of birds which are really quite common. Here at Gran CGuivira weobtain almost complete records as water is very scarce and we keep well-filled waterpans available for the birds which come from quite some distance just to obtain thewater. But evon then a few of the birds are Shy and are observed only when feedingin bushes near development area at the Monument. Such birds as these last arewarblers, various of the sparrows, etc.

Some of the records are of interest: one such is the effect of weather uponbirds, their departure during a storm, which apparently is due to the storm reallycarrying them away. The cedar wa::{wingsfor instance like the cold weather. The pasttwo winters it has been quite warm and they have not appeared in the country at all,whereas in the previous winters, they would appear right after a snow storm and remainas long as it stayed cold, disappearing for a time and returning with the next snow.Another observation is the rather close appearance ancl disappearance of certain speciesaround certain days, every year. One such bird which is quite regular is the Texasnighthawk.

For one who is interested in birds the systematic recording of observationsis one way to familiarize one's self about them. This accumulation of data can come intime to allow of new interpretations on ~~e reasons for certain habits in birds, aswell as offer some solution to perplexing problems on birds still unsolved. One suchcontribution is that of the nesting habits of the pallid horned owl. These observa-tions have been carried on in detail for a number of years now at Casa Grande NationalMonument. Then too, observations of birds yield interesting facts such as atGran Q.livira where it has been noted that several species of juncos always traveltogether -- shufelt, pink-sided in large numbers wi~~ always a pair of grey headedjuncos. Seldom more than just one pair of these last birds, although they are seengaite frequently they still belong to different flocks. We have managed to band anumber and have observed flocks to which they belong.

One interesting observation made at this area would be an excellent case fora bird psychologist. Three young canyon towhees were observed for many months beingfed by the mother bird, long after they had attained adult status, and even to date,a year and a half later, the three birds are constantly seen traveling together,although the mother bird no longer appears to be interested in them. We managed toband them not long after they beg~l to fly and have retrapped them many times since.

I hope the above data will be of somo interest, as we have found our studiesof the birds of this area quite fascinating, many of those birds developing person-alities of their own.

I would like to tell you of my last summer's experience with two babyblack~chinned hummingbirds brought me by children. For the first one I used a papernut cup for its nest and it perched itself on the rim of the cup and vibrated itswings every few minutes while it took sweetened water from a medicine dropper. Ialways took it along when I went in the car or for a walk. I took it to visit mysister who was convalescing in the hospital and before I got out it had to be taken,by request of nurses and children, to see numerous other patients who were thrilledto watch it vibrating its wings ro1d taking nectar from the medicine dropper.

While he takes his nectar through his long tube like tongue he catches tinybugs in his mouth as other birds do. I weighed him in the presence of second andthird grade classes and found that he weighed just three grams or the weight of apenny. I was sorry I could not band it before it took off. I have learned from ex-perience that hummingbirds have astounding, almost unbelievable, vitality and agreat curiosity.

Have you ever seen a hwmmingbird jaclcknife its tongue? Many times I havewatched it stick its tongue out twice the length of its bill and held my breath forfear he would never get it back again, when 10, he does a jacF.Jolifestunt at the baseof his tongue and swallows and, presto, it is back down in his throat again and youfeel relieved.

Later on I had another black-chinned for several weeks -- we called herChupa. We made her a swing and suspended it from the ceiling of my bodroom and sheused this for a perch and roost. Every mornill[~she awnkened me by fanning my facewith her Vibrating wings, as if to sa:y "It1s time to wclw up and eat" -- then I fedher.

She had an accident and we thought we had lost her. We searched high andlow in every room for her for more than two h0UTs. Then I hoard a low call zist, zist.We continued to search and finally found her in D!l empty mille bottle on top of myalee tricstove.

It took three weeks for her to fully recover and take her food every fifteenminutes suspending herself at the end of the medicine dropper as she used to do. Dayafter day children came to see Chupa and I shall never forget watching their enrap-tured faces when they were allowed the priVilege of holding the dropper and watch hersip nectar from it while constantly displaying those beautiful iridescent wings inmotion.

along;ature.her sotongue

Later we went to our mountain cabin for our munmer vacation and took ChupaMr. B. came down with a cold and one morning I was preparing to take his temper-

When Chupa saw the glass thermometer she thought we were putting one over onshe flew down and suspended horBelf at the end of the termometer and stuck herout allover it for the regulation minute. We decided she was normal and made

When we turned her loose sho flew up into the pine trees and I could callher down any time to take her sweotened wator from the dropper. Two friends werewatching this performance one day'. One said "I can hardly believe that" the othersaid "I don't believe it yet."

We took many moving pictures of her and now and then when I see them Irealize that she is just a precious memory.

Mrs. Jas. T. Birchett202 E. 7th St., Tempe, Arizona.

The 1942 record shows first a marked decrease in the number of birds banded,about one-half the number banded la.st year. The banders of g'Ulls, except for the workdone by Dr. Woodbury of Utah, seem to be resting. Among birds infrequently banded inthe Coast area are the bronze cowbird, the Arizona. scaled quail, a white-throatedsparrow, a Cooper tanager, the zone-tailed hawk, Moarn's gilded flicker, the Arizonacrested flycatcher, Traill's flycatcher, and throe ouzols.

The most numerous bird. in the record is the white-crowned sparrow, arecord held for two years preceding by the AmeriC&l pintail. This year only threeother species number more thrul one ~housand birds. They are the house finch, thepintail and the California gull. Many familiar names both of banders and banded aremissing from the lists.

Whi te PelicanDouble Cr. CormorantGreat Blue HeronBrewster EgretBlack-crowned Night HeronAmerican BitternLeast BitternWhistling SwanCanada GooseCommon MallardGadwallBaldpateAmerican PintailGreen-winged TealBlue-winged TealCinnamon TealShovellerRedheadCanvasbackLesser Scaup DuckAmerican Golden-eyeBufflehead

.40111

136

I! §o +'r-I I=l

8 i ~1127

2576

23

679

751105545

127257616113

16300

18100

1688579

86

9641

96125

II

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0-'36

1 7 132 2

24 2620 254 9

f 1I 13 23I 4 21

2 146119

3 3I 1

246652

34433

119 I 1500 1 1522i I 33

! 3725 I 1 26

II 5

II

1

2 272

Ii 3111 193

I2 10

171I 52

I3

! 3 111

I 11 11I 1I 2

II 9I 2I

441

! 951

I4 11

I I I , 4

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2I 9I 3I 6I 1, 4

Ruddy DuckWhite-tailed KiteSharp-shinned HawkCooper HawkWestern Red-tailed HawkZone-tailed HawkSwainson HawkFer. Rough-leg HawkGolden EagleMarsh HawkPrairie FalconDesert Sparrow HawkCalifornia Qj.lailGambel Qj.lailScaled QuailVirginia RailAmerican OootKilldeerSpotted SandpiperWestern WilletLeast SandpiperWestern SandpiperMarbled GodwitAvocetCalifornia GullRing-billed GullCommon TernCaspian TernBand-tailed PigeonWestern Mourning DoveChinese Spotted DoveWestern White-winged DoveMexican Ground DoveInca DoveBarn OwlScreech OwlHorned OwlWestern Burrowing OwlRoad RunnerRed-shafted FlickerMearns Guilded FlickerGila WoodpeckerAnt-eating WocdpeckerDowny WoodpeckerWestern KingbirdArkansas KingbirdCassin KingbirdAsh-throated FlycatcherBlack PhoebeSay PhoebeArizona Crested Flycatcher

119 I

I 6

1191

1182I 8171I

I2 I

I 13111

4

6

4

,I 5

31 2I 1

91~12 - I0,

441 I

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Traill FlycatcherI

5 I 5Western Flycatcher 18

11

I 18Western Wood Pewee

11 i 1iolet-green Swallow I I I 14 I 231 37

I I

Tree Swallow I 151

15I I11

ank Swallow 30 I i II

I30

arn Swallow I II I 87 I

orthern Cliff Swallow 8 1941 I I 202teller Jay

I5\ 13 Iii I

I I I 32alifornia Jay I I I 90 I 2 I I 95

erican Magpie I1

I 2 I I I I 2 4ellow-billed Magpie I I 1 I 1I I I ,estern Crow I I 1 , 4

201

i 21 7I I ! 10lack-capped Chickadee I I I

30ountain Chickadee

I I I 55 71

31

I

I 62hestnut-backed Chickadee I 2 i 5lain Titmouse 32 I

71 I 32Ish-tit 30 37

ite-breasted Nuthatch 10 2 81 I 20I 11 I

d-breasted Nuthatch , 1 I I 2ygroy Nuthatch I I 21 i 21

I

I II

alifornia Creeper I 2I

2Iren-ti t 51 I

I51I I Iater Ouzel 3

71 II

I 3! I

Iestern House Wren 1

I36 3 I i I I 47

ewick Wren 1 40 1 110 ! I I 52orthern Cactus Wren 14 2 1 I I 17

BBNSC.AmYWBMCP:auWhRePCWVI:WBNCanyon WrenRock WrenWestern MockingbirdCatbirdBrown ThrasherBendire ThraSherCurved-bill ThraSherCalifornia ThrasherCrissal ThrasherWestern RobinVaried ThrushHermi t ThrushRusset-backed ThruShWestern BluebirdMountain BluebirdWestern GnatcatcherWestern Golden-crowned KingletWestern Ruby-crowned KingletAmerican PipitBohemian WaxwingCedar WaxwingLoggerhead ShrikeCassin VireoHu tton' s Vireo

I11166

1

II 50 I1255

2 I 10654521

I111 I

3713

I I! II II i

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7155

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171442

17501

29912664521511

3832

71512112

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Least Vireo 1 1Western Warbling Vireo 6 1 '(

Orange-crowned Warbler 5 40 15 60Calaveras Warbler 30 30Yellow Warbler 3 1 3 7Myrtle Warbler 30 30Audubon Warbler 60 230 34 324Elack-throated gray Warbler 1 2 18 21Towsend Warbler 6 6MaGillivralf Warbler 7 22 29Yellow Throat 2 2Long-tailed Chat 11 11Pileolated Warbler 129 3 132American Redstart 1 I 1Yellow-headed Elackbird 1 1Redwing 10 I 10Tricolored Redwing 451 451Arizona Hooded Oriole 95 95Bullock Oriole

I3 44 1 2 50

Erewer Elackbird 359 10 369Dwarf Cowbird 75 23 98Eronzed Cowbird 2 2Western Tanager 1 31 7 39Cooper Tanager 1 1Arizona Cardinal 26 26Elack-headed Grosbeak 71 I' 72Lazuli Bunting 17 6 3 26Evening Grosbeak 2 3 5Calif. Purple Finch 64 15 79Cassin Purple Finch 1 1Common House Finch 17 277 18 2 52 1366Northern Pine Siskin HI 4 15Willow Goldfinch 87 2 89Green-backed Goldfinch 165 165Lawrence Goldfinch 11 11Green-tailed Towhee 5 15 5

I25

Spurred Towhee 1471

24 38 I 3 2 214Erown Towhee 375 16 391Abert Towhee 73 I I 73Lark Bunting 18 18Vesper Sparrow 2 2Western Lark Sparrow 17 17Rufous-cro\vued Sparrow 1 1De sert Sparrow 6 6Slate-colored Junco 4 4Oregon·Junco (sp) 162 133 3 128 10 436Pink-sided Junco 65 11 2 78iv.hite-winged Junco I 1 1Gray-headed Junco

416 223 2 1 232

Arizona Junco i I I I 4Western Tree Sparrow I 2! 3 I 5t • , I I

I ctI TI ~f ....• ctI

§ ....• 0~ 0 ~ctI ctI $.< 'd ctI ~ ctI

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Western Chipping Spa.rrow I 21 18 14 29 82Clay Sparrow I 3 3Brewer Sparrow I 3 3iBlack-chinned Sparrow I 1 1Harri s Sparrow I 1 1White-crowned Sparrow (sp) I 352 167 31 18 38 2 2119IGo1den-erowned Sparrow I I 739 39 778White-throated Sparrow i 1 1

I

Fox Sparrow (sp)I

2251

22Lincoln Sparrow 1 16 1 6 29Song Sparrow (sp) I 314 7 59 1 2 383Totals by States 1321 1402 6 9909 886 461 44 75 561 18 3411 10 227 17,331

;

Five reports were received too late to be incorporated with this year'srecord. One was from Alberta with 426 individuals of 32 species, one from Arizonawith 204 birds of 15 species, one from British Columbia with 19 birds of 7 species,one from California. with 258 birds of 17 species and one from Washington with 8 birdsof 3 species. These bring the total number of birds banded in the west to 18,246.

AlbertaArizonaBritiIDl ColumbiaCaliforniaColoradoMontanaNevadaNew MexicoOregonSonoraUtahWashingtonWyoming

3211,402

6

9,9098864614475

56118

3,41110

227

11444

272

1532

The Editor's request for information about banders and their work reachedactive minds and willing hands. The response has been so generous that it seems im-practicable to print the letters in full with a very few exceptions. In order thatmore writers may be heard, or should we say read, parts of letters will appear in thisand subsequent issues. It is the intent also to bring together items from the severalletters that bear on a common theme, for example; the total years of banding and thenumber of birds band.ed or variation in bird population from year to year. Some briefnotes we may hope to have in more extended form as is the article in this issue onBirds' Calendar.

Two topics there are on which we should like to have more response: Whatvalue to me has bird-b~~ding? ifuat specific bird problem, not too difficult, would Ilike to have cleared up?

Harold and Josephine R. MichenerPasadena, California.

(Mr. and Mrs. Michener have had so large a part in the bird-banding activi-ties of the Coast both as banders and in promoting and directing this activity thatthis accoUllt of their banding -- the more remarkable because limited to a city lot --will have very general interest.)

I began banding November 2, 1924, operating a few traps mornings and even-ings and all day Sundays. It was not many months until Mrs. Michener took a hand andfrom then on the traps were in operation practically all the time until mid 1940.During 1939 and the first half of 1940 banding was very much interrupted and finallyhad to stor entirely because of the extra care I required.

We did not report for the 1940 annual report the number of birds we bandedduring that year because we were not able to get the bookkeeping done. That was donelast fall and shows a total of 670 birds for the approximately one-half year and forthe fifteen and ono-half years that we have been banding a total of 46,600 birds, anannual average of 3,006. The Wildlife Service credits us with 913 more which werebanded by Tom Miller and reported by us before he became a bander in his own right.These 46,600 birds, with the exception of 16 which were banded at Big Boar Lake onesummer, came for food or water, or from curiosity, into small traps of which therewere about twenty most of the time. These wore on our 100 x 317 foot lot near thecenter of Pasadena. There were many times this number of repeats. Each had to betaken out of the trap into a gathering cage and out of tho gathering cago into thedaybook record. The biggest day's work, as indicated by mere numbers, amounted to400 birds taken out of the traps and recorded with 83 of them new birds. There weresome days, usually in early fall, when all the traps toge ther would catch only two orthree birds or even none at all.

Over half the birds banded were House Finches wld the number of house finchrepeats is so great that we may not live long enough to count them all. We are stilllooking for some easy way of sampling that mass of House Finch records to determinewhether there is any information of value now hidden in tbem. We are afraid there isno easy way and we shall postpone working on them until the records of some of theother species have received more of our attention.

It is too bad that the i.nnocent little hemp seed has such potentialitiesfor it is probably the best all round bait for seed-eating birds. If one could affordto feed profusely with nut meats of various kind.s, Er4glish walnuts, black walnuts,pearro.ts,etc., he probably woulo_ have more species coming for them than for any other

single type of bait. Seedless raisins. when used abundantly, will turn a feedingtray, and the adjacent area, into a year-round boarding house of such popularity withMockingbirds that no single bird or pair can establish a territory within 50 or 100feet of the tray.

We had a bowing acquaintance with our common birds when we began banding.Eanding has given the opportunity of close study of those same common birds with afew intimate glimpses of a small number of individuals of less common species. Itis a great thrill to get a really rare bird in a trap but we feel that the greatestvalue comes from an intensiVE) study of some particular features of a lD.I'genumber ofsome common specios.

At the present time I am attempting to compile data on the populationtrends of the species Falco mexicanua thro~~hout its r~1ge. This will be a hugeundertaking, but cooperators have responded exceptionally well, expecially from thePacific Coast.

I would like to have the problem of whether the prairie falcon migratesthroughout its range or whether just certain individuals demonstrate coincidentalwanderings which may be mistaken for seasonal movements. It is an assumption of minethat falcons from low al ti tudes a."1dsouthern eyries move northward and up after theeyesses leave the nest site. Some going into southern Canada and are to be foundthere late in the fall of the year. Considerable bLmding with numerous returnsshould clarify my assumption one way or the other.

The principal item of interest has been the Painted Redstart. It firstappeared here January 14, 1941. I banded it January 19. It was seen frequ.ently tillMarch 19. It did not appear again till September 29 and again on October 12, sincewhich date it has been seen daily, generally at such short range that the band canbe seen clearly, so I feel sure that it is the same bird.

As far as I know the only other record in California was of a bird seen inElysian Park, Los Angeles, in 1926, by Russell Hubricht and Dr. Loye Miller. I mightadd that my bird has not been trapped again, so I have not been able to check theband number.

I noticed a late nesting of band.-tailod pigeons this fall. Three youngbirds left their nests during tho first week in November. All these nests were with-in a few yards of my house.

James V. Duff now stationed at Camp Roberts reports that on ~aneuvers in thehills the bird most frequently seen is the lazuli bunting. Apparently the activitiesof the soldiers have driven away oti18r birds but not these.

Mrs. Helen K. Kilpatrick of Eugene, Oregon writ8s~ In the last issue of theNews from Birdbanders, I notice that you have no record of the life span of the violet .•green swallow . • . . • • I banded a female violet ..green when I found her setting inone of my nest boxes and she returned to the same nest box five years in succession.Each year I was able to band the babies.

Mr. Luther C. Goldman, Manager of the Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refugeat Roswell, New Mexico, which does not yet have a banding station, reports the pres-ence there of many -- to be exact, of 5,735 on December 30 -- little brown cranes.~bile this immigrant from 'Arctic tundras' is not unkno~n in the inner valleys of thecoast states, we have no recent record of banding nor is the bird well known.

Mr. Don Eckelberry of Ohio in the January issue of the Western Tanagercommenting on coast birds cites the white-tailed kite as the most beautiful bird hehas seen here and bemoans the absence of the tufted titmouse "disconsolately callingthrough the whi te winter woods". He does not say whether he misses the whi te winterwoods.

Mr. F. T. Maddocks, of the Division of Highwa,ys at Sacramento and whoseaddress is P.O. Box 105 Fair Oaks, California, is a recent addition to the list ofbanders.

Mr. Peter J. Van Huizen at WillOWS, sends word from the Sacramento NationalWildlife Refuge that hereafter reports from there will not be made Qy individuals butin the name of the Manager. Mr. Van Huizen's name has become a familiar one amongbanders and back of the impersonal report we shall think of him.

Headquarters of the Southwestern National Monuments has been transferredfrom Casa Grande National Monument to Santa Fe; in consequence, birdbanding activitiescarried on by the Interpretive Staff of the Headquarters have been dropped. This isthe report of Mr. Natt M. Dodge who is now Associate Naturalist at Santa Fe.

Mr. A. T. Bicknell, Custodian at Casa Grande National Monument, is in chargeof all activities at that area.

We have no traps for sale now but expect to havethem again after the war has been won.

For EMERGENCY SUPPLY OF BANDS andinformation in regard to banded birds found, address

Mr. Harold Michener, 418 No. Hudson AV':.lnue,Pasadena, California

For N~NffiERSHIPAND DUES addressMrs. N. Edward ~yer, Business Manager, 1300 Hillcrest Drive, Pomona, California

MembershiQAssociate .ActiveSus tainlng . . .. .Life (Total, not yearly)

W.]3.B .A.$1.001.005.00

50.00

W.B,B.A, and CooperOrnithological Club

. . . •. $ 3.503.507.50

125.00

Members outside the United States add twenty_five cents to the firstthree items of the last column for additional postage on The Condor.

Members are urged to subscri be to the quarterly journal Bird-.J2andingpublished by the Northeastern, Eastern ffildInland Bird-Banding Associations. Thisannual subscription, normally $2.50, can be had by members for $2.00 in addi tionto any of the above-stated dues.

Issued Qua.rterlyby the

Western Bird-Banding Association

Co-editors of the NewsMary M. Erickson, Santa Barbara, Calif.Frank M. Erickson, Santa Barbara, Calif.

President of W.B.B.A •••• F. G. Crawford2782 Glen Avenue, Altadena, Calif.

Address all contributions to the News toMiss Mary M. Erickson, 165 Foothill Road, Santa-Barbara, California

Did you note at the top of this page the new addresses of the NEWSeditors? The Associate Editor with his wife are transferring residence fromOregon, their home for more than twenty years, to California, there joining theirdaughter Dr. Mary M. Erickson in a new home at 165 Foothill Road in Santa Barbara.It is to this address that all communications to the editors should be addressed.Any unusual short-comings in this issue of the bulletin will be understood bythose who have made a similar 'move'. Difficulty in finding time and even morein finding necessary papers will constitute a sufficient alibi.

This issue of the NEVfS consists largely of news letters which have comefrom banders on request of the editors and give some account of the banders'activity: procedures and experiences. Like many another more pretentious publi-cation why should the N~VS not make its summer issue a story number not, however,of the fiction type nor yet of the true story class.

These letters are printed in the form received except for the omissionat times of passages which seemed to have too little general interest or are be-ing held for future use. Then too, these letters may promote acquaintance, makingpersonalities of the banders rather than mere names.

A CORRECTION. In the annual report of banding for the year 1942 which wasprinted in the March issue of the NE~S the number of white-cro~~ed sparrowsbanded in California is given as 167, obviously a typographical error for 1678,the correct number.

Those who have been assigned "Delivery Zone" numbers by the Post Officeplease advise Harold Michener, 418 No. Hudson Ave., Pasadena 4, California, sothat their copies of the ~ may be properly addressed.

This is not a story about the Oozle Finch which has weak eyes and there-fore flies backwards to keep the dust out of them; other scientists say he fliesbackwards because he is not so much interested in where he is going as in wherethe devil he has been. This is a story about the Ouzel, our own Ouzel of theColorado River and its tributaries. He does not do bizarre things such as flying

backwards, he merely flies in the water instead of over it; when not doing that hemay be found stolidly stalking along on the bottom 0 l'a stream with a foot 0 l'water rushing along over his head.

The people who have seen young Ouzels in their nest can be counted onthe fingers of your two hands, so carefully does the Ouzel hide its nest in shyseclusion along some inaccessible mountain stream. John Muir once found one on aledge behind the silvery curtain of a waterfall whose spray kept the mossy nestfresh and green. But some Ouzels, like some people, are different. There wasSadie Doakes, for instance, who was brought up in a quiet New Hampshire home over-looking the peaceful Pemigewasset river. Did Sadie marry the neighboring farmerboy and settle down on the peaceful Pemigewa.sset? She did not; she went toNew York, married a subway guard, rented a Second Avenue flat and lived happilyever afterward with her elbows on a pillow on a windowsill watching the elevatedtrains crash b,Y.

So our Sadie Ouzel of this story did not seek out the serene fastnessesof the upper reaches of No Name or Grizzly for her nest; she found herself a two-ton girder under a bridge on U.S. Highway number 24, and there amid the crash andruble of transport trucks and trailvva.ybusses built the home in which to bringher little ones into tho world. Instead of a silvery curtain of spray there isthe silvery web of an aluminum-paint coated I-beam made of nothing more rusticthan carbon steel. Wben the wind is right the Ouzel home is cooled by balmyzephers of soft coal smoke from compound mallet locomotives on the Rio Grandeacross the river.

Georgia Pratt discovered the Ouzel home; in fact she could not escapeit. At feeding time the screams of the three infant ouzels drowned out even themallet locomotives and the ten-ton trucks. ~nen Sadie comes with food there en-sues a big show with colossal sound effects. I saw it this morning; I recommendit to all natur8 lovers who like noise and confusion.

Here is how you go about seeing it. Go to Hanging Lake Station, andtell Lawrence Pratt that Joe sent you. If the initial formalities go off allright, Lawrence will load you into a.boat and sail you under the bridge. At in-tervals botween trucks, when concrete scales are not sifting down your neck, youcan look overhead and see the Ouzel homo built of grass and twigs on the plan ofan igloo. It is covered front, backsides and top, and has a hole in front for adoor. In the doorway you ~~ll soo three yellow beaks and three gray noggins withtufts of fuzz on the sides, making them look like a trio of Foxy Grandpas.

Now for the show; things must first be quiet, at least as quiet as theHolland Tunnel during rush hour. The Inother approaches with her bill full of in-sects and SUddenly the dark doorway flashes from black to yellow as three tre-mendous mouths snap open. The tr~ee young ouzels scream, mama Sadie Ouzel scream~one young ouzel gets all the food, the other two scream louder; then the doorwa.ysnaps from yellow to black again, and there is silence except for the gentlepounding of a Mack truck overhead. Your ears ring, but the show has been worththe price of admission.

I banded these young Ouzels. It is quite a record as only one and two-third Ouzels per year have been banded in the entire United states for the lastthree years. But that is not the reason I banded them; I did so because althoughOuzels are not migratory birds, I knew that if they were true sons and daughters ofSadie Ouzel they would, by hook or orook, become migratory birds and I was surethat the next record of them next winter would come from the banks of the Amazonor perhaps the Congo.

Captain Eugene R. GuildBox 613 Glenwood Springs, Colo.

The following contribution seems to the Editors to be of unique interest:the environment involved is most unusual; the occupation of' the writer is uniqueamong bird banders, and he has been a bander for eighteen years. The article isbrimful of personality, itself a notable fact.

Here are a few kernels of grain winnowed out from the chaff. Have beenbanding since April 1925. The first few years Brewer Blackbirds and Linnets pre-dominated. Then came the Gambel Sparrows. Later on got to banding the Raptorsand for several years they predominated. The last several years Duck banding hascome to the front.

Have banded a total of 3,963; not many for a period of eighteen yearsbut for the time I had to devote to it, not bad. Total of thirty-four speciesbanded.

~ job is substation operator for the San Diego Gas and Electric Co.Doves, Linnets, English Sparrows and Arkansas Kingbirds have nested on the switchrack, between the frame and the oil oircuit-breaker, under the hood over the motoron the crane and where the I-beams were joined together.

For the past two years a pair of Mourning Doves have nested on a 12 kvraok, on top of a ohannel beam. This pair of Doves have nested from three to fivetimes a year. In 1941 they began building the latter part of February and by thelatter part of Maroh the eggs had hatohed.

The first week in April, banded one of the young, oould not capture theother. Within a week after the young had left the nest, the female had cleanedhouse, added a few new twigs, and laid one egg. Two days later there were two.The last of May the two eggs hatched. Ten days later, captured one and banded it.In the latter part of June she built a new nest fifteen feet further along on therack and raised another brood; did not get a chance to band them.

Then in 1942, the same pair of Doves came back, and nested in #1 nest inFebruary. On Maroh 17, banded one of the young, could not catch the other one.March 18, the female placed a few new twigs on nest. She was on nest from 10 AMto 11:30 AM on the 19th, then she was gone for the rest of the day; came back atdusk. The next morning about 8:30 AM noticed one of the young of first broodsitting beside her. During the day and for several days thereafter, both youngcould be seen sitting beside their mother. Also, they roosted there for nearly aweek at night. Would turn the beam of a flashlight on to them and see all three ofthem huddled together. The male roosted just outside the fence in a tree. April23 ~he second brood left nest and I caught and banded the youngest one. Never 8eem

to be able to catch both. On April 25 the female started building:inan acacia treealong the street out in front. On N~y 30 young hatched and five days later thenest was deserted and young found doad in nest. On June 10, Dove was nesting inanother acacia tree 200 ft. east from the first one in the tree. By June 15Mockingbird and Shrike had driven Dove off nest and one of them punctured theeggs. Laid it on to the Mockingbird. The Dove then went back up beyond firstnest in tree and started again. By the 20th, had nest and one egg. Shortlythereafter, she deserted nest as the soldiers met on their rounds under that treewhile patroling the station.

Well, the pair are back again this year. On January 2, they were seenup on switch rack billing and cooing. Looking forward to banding their youngagain this year.

Fred N. GallupP.O. Box 614Escondido, Calif.

The following is a list of those whose reports of birds banded in 1942were included in the annual report together with the number of species and totalnumber of birds credited to each. For California towns, the name of the state isomitted.

Abbott, Waldo C.Alcorn, J. RayAll en, Walter I.Ayer, IVlrs.N. Edward

1907 Robbins, Santa BarbaraFallon, Nevada1751 N. Pepper Drive, Altadena1300 Hillcrest Drive, Pomona

Barnes, C. A. 3742 Coldvmter Canyon, No. HollywoodBartow, Mrs. Tyra C. 6515 S.W. Burlingame Ave., Portland OregonBauman, Fr. Severin A., O.RM. Old Mission, Santa BarbaraBirchett, Mrs. Jos. T. 202 E. 7th Street, Tempe, ArizonaBlanchard, Barbara D. University Farm, Davis, Div. of ZoologyBroderick, Harold J. Carlsbad Caverns Nat'l Park, N. Mexico

Park Naturalist

Carman, Edith B., (Mrs. S.)Claas, Fr. Norman, O.F.M.Clabaugh, Ernest D.Couffer, L.P.Crawford, Franklin G.Crouch, James E.Curtis, Elizabeth L.

Dixon, Ralph E.Duff, C.V. & Jas. V.

Ehman, E. V'll & G. C.Ekedahl, VernonErickson, Mary M.Erickson, Mr. & Mrs. F. M.

Gadd, Samuel W.Gallup, Fred N.Gorsuch, William K.Graham, HatchGuild, Eugene R.

Grand Junction, Colorado, R #2San Luis Rey Seminary, San Luis Rey44 Lenox Road, Berkeley1625 Country Club Drive, Glendale2782 Glen Avenue, AltadenaSan Diego State College, San Diego5648 Beach Drive, Seattle, Wn.

Route 2, Box 360, Escondido1922 Tamarind Avenue, Hollywood

37 Bellevue Avenue, PiedmontBowdoin Nat'l Wildlife Refuge,2661 Puesta del Sol Road220 Salem Heights Ave., Salem,

4N.a.lta, Mont. 12

12Oregon 32

1019 N. Nevada Ave., Colo. Sprgs., Colo.P. O. Box 614, Escondido910 Oleander & E. Washington, Chico10300 Viretta Lane, Los AngelesBox 613 Glenwood Springs, Colorado

11 1172 44

35 25740 901

12 557 148

44 120129 450

1 4511 46

10 4148 173513 11014 2728 52410 33

4 7

16227

332303115416

12293

520

604

Hawbecker, Albert C.Hazeltine, B. M.Henderson, Mrs. R. N.Horning, Dr. & Mrs. J. E.

McCabe, Mrs. T. T.Mack, W. E.Maddocks, F. T.Mowbray, VincentMurie, O. J.

National Elk RefugeNeff, Johnson A.

Randall, Thomas E.Ransom, Webster H.Remington, Charles L.Rich, C. SelwynRichardson, Walter L.Rogers, Irl

Salt, W. RaySeibert, Milton L.Smith, Mrs. Otis H.Stannard, CarlosStoddard, PalmerStoner, Emerson A., ISumner, E. L.Test, Louis A.Thompson, Charles G.Toulouse, Joseph H. Jr.

Ward, William & AliceWilliam V., Walter P.

Williams, Ralph B.Wilson, Vanez T.Woodbury, A.M.

205 N•. "M" street, MaderaMedicine Lake, Montana3922 Broadway, SacramentoField, British Columbia, Canada

2731 Prince Street, BerkeleyR #2, Box 172 HealdsburgP. O. Box 105, Fair Oaks102 Jefferson St., VallejoJackson, Wyoming

Jackson, Wyoming, Almer P. Nelson, Mgr.U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service546 Custom House, Denver, Colorado

Nevisville, Alberta, Canada1823 Smith Tower, Seattle, Wn.5570 Etzel Ave., st. Louis, Missouri114 Champion Place, AlhambraR *2, Box 321, Porterville402 Alturas Ave., Modesto

Drurnhelle, Alberta, Canada4649 Redding st., Oakland89 Elm Avenue, Sam AnselmoRt. #1, Box 1178, Phoenix, Arizona18329 Eastburn St., Detroit, Michigan149 E. ilL" Street, Benicia2537 Rose1ffalk, BerkeleyR #1, Box 213, Lindsay587 Arlington Avenue, BerkeleyGran Quivira Nat'l MonumentGran Quivira, New Mexico

Sacramento Nat'l Wildlife RefugeR.F.D. #1, Willows959 Watadero Avenue, Palo Alto

Public Health Laboratory, Cheyenne, Wyo.Bear River Refuge, Brigham, UtahUniversity of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah

1 1020 1585 1525 6

1 11 225 415 122 8

2 3112 336

11 2811 3

27 17226 339

4 2713 1232

5 407 18

21 11721 74711 62

3 3526 78212 198

9 2126 29

29 42410 1898

1 1500

Five reports were received too late to be incorporated in the AnnualReport although the total number of birds reported was included in the total forthe year. These five reports were the follOWing:

Bergstrom, E. AlexanderEdwards, Harlan H.Linada1e, JeanPearse, TheedPegg, Harry C.

Tucson, Arizona 153509 W. Laure1hurst, Seattle, Wn. 3Jamesburg Route, Monterey 17Courtenay, V. 1., British Columbia, Canada 7G1enevis, Alberta, Canada 32

2048

25819

426

Bach, Robert s.Berry, C. S.True, Gordon H. Jr.

415 Federal Building, Boise, IdahoBox 1767 Casper, Idaho262 Juanita Way, San Francisco

1 2126 14196 391

The Air Line Pilot, October 1942, prints an unusual article written byMr. Frederick C. Lincoln of the federal Fish and Wildlife Service. The articlewas written at the request of air line pilots as a contribution toward the elim-ination of one of the hazards of air travel, that of collision with migratorybirds. It is a pioneer article on the subject.

That the collision of planes with migratory water fowl and sometimeswith other birds is a serious menace to air travel appears from the assertion ofthe Civil Aeronautics Administration that more than 60 such accidents haveoccurred since 1939, most of them at night. Such collisions are most likely tooccur at the times of greatest migration, March and November. The birds involvedare usually ducks, geese, swans or coots. The impact of a heavy bird flying athigh speed upon a plane traveling 200 miles an hour is terrific; no windshield hasyet been devised that will withstand it. The best insurance against such acci-dents seems to be avoidance of the danger and it is here that the knowledge ofMr. Lincoln and other ornithologists of the migratory habits of birds is of greatvalue. Knowing the seasons of migrations, the height at which birds fly and themigration routes, the pilot can modi~ his course especially as to height so as tolessen the danger materially.

In return the observation of air pilots has contributed not a little in-formation as to the height at vmich birds fly. It appears that very few fly inmigration at elevations more than 5,000 ft. above ground level; most fly below3,OOO·ft.

Plateau, a publication of the Museum of Northern Arizona at Flagstaff inits issue for July 1942 has an article by Edwin D. McKee of the University ofArizona on Results from a Bird Banding Station at Grand Canyon. The article is anexcellent example of a study based on banding and gives valuable information onthe regional movement of birds both resident and migratory within the Canyon. Thestudy vms continued seven years ending with August 1939. 5,269 birds of 45 speciBswere banded. In the author's words "Through a network of substations importantdata have been obtained on the time and direction of seasonal movements, on age,associations and feeding habits of individuals, and on the degree of regularity inlocal movements.1I By special studies "it was determined that the individualsmaking up certain flocks stayed together fairly uniformly and that certain groupswere quite regular in the time each day vilienthey visited a particular feedingstation".

The 1mseum of Natural Histo~ at Santa Barbara recently held a publicexhibit with moving pictures around the theme of the Victory garden. One exhibitprepared by Dr. Ma~ M. Erickson was in tv~ parts. One, a live gopher in a cagemade of two large panes of glass set parallel and about five inches apart, thespace between nearly filled with moist sand. In this the gopher shoveled and dugendlessly, exhibiting a technique which few have witnessed although every one knowsthe results •

On another table were exhibited the contents of 60 pellets which hadbeen disgorged by a pair of barn owls which have their nest in the belf~ of alocal church. These 60 pellets on exami.nation yielded 59 gopher skull s along withmuch fur and bones, cleven skulls of roof rats and ono mole skull. Tho exhibitwas a vivid demonstration of the value of the barn owl's service to the gardener.

In answer to your request "Let's get acquainted." Tyra (that's pro-nounced like Vera) Bartow received her first permit for banding birds in Columbus,Ohio, June 12, 1937. That spring the Columbus Audubon Society put out a hundredbluebird boxes on fenceposts along the highways leading into Columbus in order toincrease the bluebird population 'fl.hich,vas suffering from lack of natural nestingsites. A few of the members made periodic visits to these boxes to verify theiruse. At that time it seemed logical that bands could produce a more completepicture of the family life of these birds but alas -- the lA bands were tempor-arily out until all the fledglings were gone. A second year of watching the lifehistories of the bluebird was interrupted by the migration of the Bartows toCincinnati.

In August 1941 a permit covering the State of Oregon ,vas received, sincewe have now established a permanent home here. Only an ornithologist can appreci-ate the task of locating a home where housing scarcity was prevalent and add tothe requirements good bird-banding site. We have a pasture in back of us, under-growth, shrubs, fir trees on the lot between us and our neighbor to the north. (Hewould appreciate it if we would like to help him clean it up but he isn't a birdstudent.) To the south we have our traps baited with food all the time, in aclearing with hazel, blackber~ tangle not yet conquered, dogwood, firs, etc. andhillsides of firs and native growth in a not too crowded neighborhood but fortun-ately only four miles from city center. We didn't get a creek on our lot but closeenough so that the wrens are about.

Our Oregon Junco and Rusty Song Sparrow are with us practically all thetime and in and out of the traps so much that we make no attempt to record theirrepeated visits. We've had Kinglets, Nuthatches, Chickadees at our suet stick al-most constantly but so far not the right trap to band them. The Wrens pop out ofour woodpile but not in our traps (same reason). Evening Grosbeaks, Varied Thrush,some warblers (so numerous in Columbus and so conspicuous by their absence here)have come in to feed but again for lack of correct traps, they leave without abracelet. I might add that the water trap met with a fatal accident in Cincinnatibefore we left so the four-celled and a sparrow trap loaned to us by the PortlandAudubon Society are responsible for our present report of banded birds in Portland.Scarcity of traps on market to say nothing about cash left over from taxes, to payfor them, possible priorities on hardware mesh and a not too-handy-with-tools man-about-house isn't too encouraging for trappers but where there is a will there isa way, they say.

The ba.ckyard is being used for a Victory garden until time for land-scaping * * * * New western residents would be happy to learn what plantings totie in with landscaping as well as encourage more birds to our garden.

For 1942 we have recorded in the order which they have been seen aroundour home the following birds but unfortunately not all trapped. Will be glad tobe advised on tra.ps that might give us tho best results for future years.

Rusty Song SparrowShufeldt JuncoNorthwGstern FlickerRing-necked PheasantW. Golden-crowned KingletSitka KingletOregon Chickadee'N. 'iVinterVirenFox SparrowOregon TowheeCoast JayGairdner's Woodpecker1Nestern CrowWestern Robin

KilldeorVaried ThrushSeattl '3 WrenRed-breasted NuthatchPine SiskinChestnut-backed ChickadeeCalifornia CreeperW. Evening GrosbeakWillow GoldfinchPuget Sound SparrowRufous Hun~ingbirdCoast BushtitLutescent WarblerHutton Vireo

Audubon WarblerPurple J\:lartinViolet-green SwallowRed-breasted SapsuckerGolden-crowned SparrowW. Chipping SparrowEnglish SparrowGambel's SparrowCalifornia Purple FinchGolden Pileolated WarblerHouse FinchAlaska Hermit Thrush

Sharp-shinned HawkBullock OrioleWestern FlycatcherW. 'Hood PeweeCedar WaxvvingRusset-backed ThrushBob-:NhiteBand-tailed PigeonWestern TanagerW. House ;;[renPacific NighthawkTownsend's Warbler

Tyra C. Bartow (Mrs. Leslie W. )6515 S.W. Burlingame AvenuePortland, Oregon

1. I began banding in June, 1939. At this time I lived in Long Beach, and foundthe birds extremely scarce.

In August, 1940, I moved to Palos Verdes Estates. Birds at rrry station werecomparatively numerous. I \vas still able to continue banding nestlings, aswell as numerous species trapped at rrry station.

In Septem.ber, 1941, we moved to our present location in Altadena. While notas abundant as at Palos Verdes, the station banding has proven more interest-ing due to more varied species being represented. However, due to geographi-cal difficulties and the present scarcity of transportation facilities andavailable time, the banding of shore birds and nestlings has been practicallyeliminated.

2. In alll 21048 birds have been bandedl with 47 species representedl the mostcommon being (1) House Finch 7341 (2) Gambel Sparrow 3741 (3) Least Tern 230,(4) San Diego Redwing 128, (5) Brewer Blackbird 96, (6) Song Sparrow 831

(7) Chinese Dove 70, (8) Calif. Towhee 54, (9) Mockingbird 42.

3. The year 1942 has been analyzed to study trap performancel partioularly to de-termine which type of trap produoed new birds and which type captured largelyrepeats. Six types of traps were used concurrently throughout the year, asfollows:a. A Modesto trap, located either on the ground or on a platform four feet

above the ground, the latter location proving somewhat more effective.A total of 67 new birds compared with 100 recaptured birds gave a ratioof recaptures: new of 1.5 : 1.

b. A "Funnel" trap, approximately 27" x 27" x 7" high with a funnel flushwith the ground entering one side and extending to the center of the trap,located only on the ground, yielded 36 new birds and 153 recaptured, or aratio of 4.25 : 1.

c. Two WBBA Warbler trapsl with dripping water, one located on the groundunder a small peach tree, the other on a 30" table near an Abutilon shrublyielded a total of 157 new birds and 46 recapturesl or a ratio of only0.29 : 1. The ground trap vms much the more effective of the two, althoughOrioles and Mockingbirds usually came to the table trap. Incidentally, allof the wrens, tits, warblers, and goldfinches were caught in these traps.

d. Two Rogers Traps, located on the ground, produced a total of 127 new and185 recaptured birdsl a ratio of 1.5 : 1.

e. A "1 cell" trap, which is also used as a gathering cage, approximately4" x 8" x 8" highl was operated partly on the ground and partly on thesame platform as that used above for the Modesto trapl yiel~ing 36 newbirds and 94 recapturesl a ratio of 2.6 : 1.

f. A "pull-the- string" drop trap operated from a garage window some 25 feetaway, produced 89 new and 209 recaptured birds, a ratio of 2.3 : 1.

g. Twelve of the birds included in this years' report were nestlings -Redwings and Mockingbirds.

I have experimented with various baits, and for the past year have beenusing a mixture of baby chick scratch, bread crumbsl sunflower seed and red millet,with occassional additions of hemp, milo maizel and vmlnut meats.

4. What have I learned about birds from banding? Practically everything I know,vmich incidentally isn't nearly enough. Although casually interested forseveral yearsl my real interest dates from ~J obtaining my first set of bands.

5. Perhaps a few remarks about my station would be in order. At the outset ofbanding activities at my present location, it ~~s evident that the cat problemwould be difficult. To solve it, I topped the three foot solid board fencealready surrounding the rear of our lot on three sides with four feet ofchicken wire. I built the posts with a 45 degree bracket on top to provide anoutside overhang of about a foot. Aoross the lot on the fourth side I in-stalled a six foot wire mesh fence with a similar outside overhang. Thisarrangement has proven 100% cat proof.

Since my banding is confined within the enclosod area. I am limited toa plot of ground approximately 50' x 35'. Several young fruit trees, a rosegarden. an Abutilon hedge and a Catoneaster hedge thoughtfully provided by aneighbor provide some. but not enough. cover for the birds. In all, however. avery convenient and fairly effective station is thus provided.

Franklin G. Crawford2782 Glen AvenueAltadena. California

It was just one year and three months ago, September 30, 1941, that myfirst supply of bands arrived. the usual assortment of ten each of the smallersized bands. Since then I have managed to use over 1850 bands. These rangemostly in the smaller sizes. #0 to #2, although four #4 bands went around thelegs of as many young Sparrow Hawks. A pair of these nested in one of the Flickerboxes I had placed about twenty feet up on the side of a eucalyptus tree. Theytook over the nest in the early part of April laying in all five beautiful browneggs, only four of which were hatched. It was quite a problem each time I went toinspect the nest to screw up courage enough to mount the ladder and slide open thefront of the nest. I never knew if one of the parents might be on the nest. How-ever, once only was the female in the box. But almost every time as I put my footon the bottom rung of the ladder I would see one of the parents, usually the male,emerge from the top of another eucalyptus tree about a hundred yards away and cometearing straight for me. Then would ensue a series of hovering and diving at meaccompanied by the most piercing cries from the bird. But these were as nothingcompared with the day I went out to band the fledglings. This time both parentswere waiting for me and kept diving around me all the time I was removing the nestfrom its support. After taking them to a place Where I could band them in peaoe.I had to return them. For some odd reason the parents were not as upset as befor~since all they did was hover about a dozen yards above the top of the ladder whileI was replaoing the box. Then after I removed the ladder and was watching themfrom a short distance. each went into the nest to see that everything was allright. I must have disturbed them just after they had been feeding the fledglingsfor one of the youngsters had a lizard projecting tail-most from its beak.

Other interesting birds which nested in my boxes this past year were apair of Western Bluebirds, who thinking one nest wasn't enough, built a nest ineach of two boxes not far from each other, but raised one brood only; also twoseparate pairs of Ash-throated Flycatchers, who raised a brood apiece in my boxes.This year our bell tower was quite infested with Barn Owls. One pair raised abrood of seven right next to the bells, another pair nested on a platform belowthe bells, but hatched only one egg. And still another pair raised a good sizedbrood in a niche on the facade of the tower where it was impossible to reach them.

But all these are the more exceptional birds. the ones rarely caught inthe common traps. Those which frequent my potter and chardonneret traps in thegreatest numbers are the Tri-colored Red-wing, the \Vhite-crowned Sparrow (mostlyGambel), the House Finch, and also the Brewer Blackbird. The greatest number ofbirds of a single species that I have caught this year belong to tho opeeies"Agelaius tricolor", the Tri-colored Red-wing. They started entering my traps onthe 1st of April and during that and the two following months 450 new birdsentered my traps. These traps were five single-celled potter traps arranged in asemi-circle and liberally supplied with cornbread, my staple and most satis~ingbait. With this bait I also managed to catch 150 Brewer Blackbirds, and to dateabout 350 i1hite-crowned Sparrows. The only ground-feeding bird upon which corn-bread does not work is the common Linnet. That specios only entered my water

traps, however, to the tune of about 300 for this year. Besides three chardonnerettraps and five potters, I also have an Automatic Drop Trap, much the same as thatdescribed by Fr. Severin in his article which appeared in the NEWS about a year 8.fP.So far I have found it to be of use only for the vVhite-crowned Sparrows, but I hopeto make good use of it when and if the Tri-colors return en masse this April.

Your question "What have you learned about birds through banding?" wouldbe a rather lengthy one for me to answer. My knowledge of birds, the necessity ofkeen observation of birds both in the field and in the hand, the demand for experi-mentation with regard to baits and the placement of traps have all been increasedand broadened by means of banding. And this does not take into account the amountof information the service will acquire if and when any of rrrybirds are picked upin other parts of the country. To date I have received no foreign returns nor haveI been notified that any of rrrybirds have been recovered at other points. Still rrryrecords show that I have turned in over a hundred returns, those banded both byFr. Severin while he was here and by rrryself,and about a thousand repeats, thegreater number being vVhite-crowned Sparrows and Tri-colored Red-wings.

There is one problem I would like to have solved, if possible, and thatis: What is a good bait for Flickers and the smaller Woodpeckers? I constructeda Baldwin Woodpecker Trap this summer and now when I put out beef suet in theregular haunts of the Woodpeckers, they figuratively "turn up their noses" at it,and won't touch it. Perhaps someone has a good suggestion.

Fr. Norman Claas, O.F.M.San Luis Rey SeminarySan Luis Rey, California

I have been banding birds since 1940 -- banding 1,507 birds of 47 species.I band here at rrryhome on a city lot. There are many birds prevalent in this sec-tion that do not come into the city. The most frequent visitors are the GambelSparrows, Inca Doves, House Finch and Audubon Warblers. I would like to know howto sex the Inca Dove and the Cactus Wrens if it is possible to do so. Putting TIr';f

banding records together I can see there is quite a family life among the birds. Ibanded two birds close together one year. They leave and return together each yearafter that about the same time. I have had them do it for 4 years. They may begone a month or 3 months but they return together. We have many birds of manyspecies here. I band birds to learn more new birds but also to teach children tolove and protect them, to know them also.

Mrs. Jos. T. Birchett202 E. 7th StreetTempe, Arizona

Since the white-crowned Sparrow is one of the birds most frequently bandedon the coast and since much confusion exists as to the distinction between GambelSparrows and those of the Nuttall-Puget Sound group, we are printing again the dis-tinguishing characteristics as given by Dr. Barbara Blanchard and included in theSecretary's report of the L.A. Chapter meeting of March 14. She says, "It seemsthat every Gambel I have examined has had a pinkish or burnt orange tint over theyellow bill, making it easily distinguishable from the pure yellow of the Nuttalli-pugetensis group. The three characters I always check are bill-color, amount ofyellow on bend of wing (pale to lacking entirely in Gambels), the color of the

dorsum feathers (central portion reddish, sides grayish in adult Gambels as op-posed to central portion deep brovm, sides buffy in the Nutta11i-pugetensis group)The song is, of course, another good criterion for anyone lIrith half a musical ear".

Another reminder which appears in the report of the L.A.B.B. meeting ofNarch 14 and ",dll boar repeating is the following: * * * all of us .mo can shouldspread information on the fact that a considerable number of gulls have beenbanded with various combinations of colored celluloid bands with one aluminumband and that it is important that any such gulls seen should be reported, givingthe arrangement of the bands on the two legs of the bird. These reports shouldbe addressed to Mrs. M. C. Sargent, 3235 - 13th st. South, Arlington, Virginia.

Our excuse for talking about these birds this time is to ask to ~latextent do the females sing.

The song of this species was first heard by us this year on April 11and ever since it has seemed that we have had more of their rollicking song thanusual. On April 24 a pair was buHding; a nest in an apricot tree. It was inplain sight and easily accessible to a cat or a rat or an opossum which mightclimb the tree. We were anxiou.s about it. This nest was not completed and notused. Their nests never do look as if they had been completed. About this timea male without a tail began comine; to the food tray at the kitchen window. Oneor more males, as well as females had been coming there for some time. We do notknow how this one lost hi[~ tail.- "

On May 15 a song was heard coming from the top 0 l' a tree. It was im-mediately answered by a similar soni:~from high in a toyon "tree" which happenedto be under observation. The song;s WGre repeated a couple of times and thosefrom both birds vrere, as far as we could tell, alike. Then from a dark spot inthe toyon, a female emerged and flew off, past the tree from which the first songcame, giving several of the "tit" notes of the species. At the same time theother bird, it was the tailless male, came from the tree, lit in the toyon, sang,disappeared in the dark spot and sang several times before becoming quiet. Ashift of the point of observation disclosed a nest. Several times this relief ofthe felnale by the ~~le was observod and each time it was accompanied by songs asdescribed. The reVGrso change was not observed but surely was not accompanied bysong during the several hours that the observer W8.S where the nest could be seenbut was not actually watching the nest much of tho time.

Judging from the kitten-like mewing;, several young came off the nestsafely. But on tv.ro occasions after they were out, VTeheard the distress cries ofa grosbeak and a great CO!iilllotionamongst the othel' birds. The second time asparrow hawk was seen to flY' to the tep of one of our trees, taking the crieswith it and then fly off to the north in the path we have seen two sparrow hawksgoing and coming. So, we think tv,o of our young grosbeaks helped to feed someyoung sparrow hawks and there is at least one more still "mewing" in our shrubbery.

Last year we observed for the first time and reported in these pages(December, 1942) these grosbeaks getting nectar from tho flowers of the Abutilon.It was not until mid- season that we saw them doing it and they did not do so forlong. This season they came to those flowers as soon as theJT arrived in theneighborhood and we are sure they could be seen there daily, perhaps many times aday, if a close watch were kept. We think the habit and birds surely do have localfood habits, was acquired last year and has grown remarkably this year, in ourlocal population at least.

Mr. 11'1Rogers, 402 Alturas Ave., Modesto, California, has a few RogersTwo-V-Cell traps for sale at $3.00 each. They are new, made "for the good of theorder" from pre-priority hardware cloth and have been given the Rogers personaltouch. Those interested should address 1tr. Rogers. Drawing and description canbe found in the News, Vol. XI, December 1936, pp. 49-50.

"We have no traps for sale now but expect to havethem again after the war has been won.

For EI~Gm~CY SUPPLY OF illU~DSandinformation in regard to banded birds found, address

N~.Harold Michener, 418 No. Hudson Avenue, Pasadena 4, California

For MEMBERSHIP AND DUES addressMrs. N. Edward Ayer, Business Manager, 1300 Hillcrest Drive, Pomona, California

W.B.B.A. and CooperOrn~thologic~l~ub

$ 3.503.507.50

125.00

Associate • • • • • • • • • • • • •Acti ve •• • • • • • • • • • •Sustaining •• • • • • • • • • • •Life (Total, not yearly) • • •

$1.001.005.00

50.00

Members outside the United States add twenty-five cents to the firstthree items of the last colwnn for additional postage on The Condo~.

Members are urged to subscribe to the quarterly journal Bird-Bandin~published by the Northeastern, Eastern and Inland Bird-Banding Associations. Thisannual subscription, normally ~,2.50, can be had by members for $2.00 in additionto any of the above-stated dues.

Issued quarterlyby the

Western Bird-Bandir~ Association

What is The Bird. Population of Your Station?Summary for the Ericksons' Station

CommunicationsMistaken Kindness, Mr. C. R. BerryBird Psychology? Mrs. Alice WardA Straightforward Story. Mr. Walter L. RichardsonBi rds Approve a Scar ecrow. Mr. Ha teh Graham

A Unique Book and Three Others, New and Old.Among My Friends. Dr. Gustave EcksteinJungle in the Clouds. Victor v. Hagen, F,Z.S.Trail of the Money Bird. Dillon RipleyThe Birds. Aristophanes

Brief No tesSome Return, Some Do NotA Woodpecker on a WireSchool Children and BirdsDucks in the South PacificBarn Owl and Rat Electrocuted

Co-editors of the NewsMary M. Erickson, Santa Barbara, Calif.Frank M. Erickson, Santa Barbara, Calif.

President of W.B.B.A .... F. G. Crawford2782 Glen Avenue, Altadena, Calif.

Address all contributions to the News toMiss Mary M. Erickson, 165 Foothill Road, Santa Barbara, California

Mr. Eustace Lowell Sumner (E.L. Sumner, Sr.) passed away at the PeraltoHospital in Oakland on October 1, 1943. 'He was not aware that he would not re-cover, had greatly enjoyed the groups of family and friends who called upon him inhis hospital room, and wh0n the time came he quietly dozed off to sleep and didnot awaken.

Mr. Sumner was a past president and councillor of the W3stern Bird-Banding Association. During the years when the headquarters were in Berkeley,first as business manager and then as president, his work was invaluable to thefunctioning of the Association. The present officers and all the members who havehad the pleasure of knowing him will miss him keenly. - H. M.

The Wilson Bulletin for September 1943 prints its usual bibliography ofpublications relating to bird study. In all one hundred twenty-five titles aregiven; thes9 are group'3d under eleven heads. The groups with the number of1itlesunder each are as follows:

Physiology 2 Life History andAnatomy 4 Behavior 56Di stribu tion and Food of Birds 9

Ta.xcmomy 19 T3chniques (Includ-Population 10 ing banding) 5Migration 4 History, BiographyEcology 4 Bibliography and

Institutions 8Pa18ontology 4

If these titles are taken as representative of present trends, it isevident that the most popular field of study is Life History and Behavior. Ithas nearly as many tit1es as all the others put together - 56 against 69~ Thesmallest groups, those with not more than four titles, are as one would expect,the more technical, Physiology, Anatomy, Ecology, Paleontology and Migrationwhich last requires data not roadily available to the average student. The fourtitles under Paleontology represent but one author.

The second largest group is that of Distribution and Taxonomy, nine-teen titles. The other groups in order of size are:

PopulationFood of Birds

His to ry e tc ,Techniques

Only two titles are specifically on banding; these are a paper byC. C. Ludwig on Keeping Bird Banding Records printed in Bird Banding News, June1943 and another paper by A. L. Rand on Deciphering Worn Bands printed in BirdBanding, January-April 1943. Other articles doubtless are based on bandingrecords.

What is the inference to be derived from so few studies on bandingamong an unselected list of one hundred twenty-five subjects? A questionnairein 1938 among Wilson Club members put banding as the third highest interest. Dothese two facts warrant the conclusion that numerous banders carryon thisactivity not as a means of scientific r'3search but as an end in itself, for per-sonal information and satisfaction, a bit in the spirit which animates the poet-scientist author of thG book Amon,g Mx Friends. And this is said in no spirit ofcriticism. While such banding may not meet the primary purpose of the govern-ment in its banding program, it does promote a general interest and understand-ing of bird life. Moreover, in many an investigation the original purpose hasexpanded until the results have equalled or surpassed in value the primary ob-ject of search. kld the banding records serve the governments purpose no lessbecause of the bander's personal gain.

To anyone familiar with W.B.B.A. roports and communications it must beevident that there is much of value in them which needs only organi2ation to be-come available. If the material which now is grouped by years could be groupedby subj3cts, the cumulative data would hav,'.la value which does not inhere inscattered items which are easily forgott0n or lost sight of.

Except for the tabulation of the annual reports no one has yet ap-peared to undertake any accurate compilation of such data. But glancing overreports which have been received in the last few years it seems evident that thenotes fall for the most part under three heads, Life History and Behavior,Occurrence, and Techniques-traps lures and procedures.

Good examples of the first group are in the communications of Mrs.Ward and of Hatch Graham which are printed below in this issue.

In this connection mention may be made of a new and very comprehensivebook on this subject.* Of it The Scientific Monthly for June says on page 568

*Bird Display. An Introduction to the Study of Bird Psychology. E.A. Armstrong.Illustrated. 1942. The University Press. Cambridge.

The present book ..... which includes far more than its main title implies, is awelcome summary and critical digest of a great mass of recent work on birds inpractically all parts of the world.

Frequent are the comments on the occurrence or non-occurrence of birdsat a given station or variations from the number of birds of a given species com-mon to that locality. Fr. Severin Baumann, O.F.M., who has had interesting resultstrapping warblers, sends this note.

About the only feature of interest that I havB to report concernsthe Audubon and Myrtle Warblers. During the trapping season from Octobernineteen hundred and forty-one to March nineteen hundred and forty-two Itrapped two hundred and seventy-three Audubons, forty-one Myrtles. It isnoteworthy that from Octo'ber to January the first, nineteen forty-two Icaught two hundred and seventeen Audubons to fifteen Myrtles. Whereasfrom January the first, nineteen forty-two to March of the same year Icaught fifty-six Audubons to twenty-six Myrtles. Thlring January alone Icaught twenty-two Myrtles.

During the present banding season from October to January the first,nineteen hundred and forty-three the results are quite different --seventy-five Audubons to four Myrtl·3S. Naturally I am eager to see whatwill happen in the future. The returns on these birds are satisfactory -fifty-nine Audubons and three Myrtles.

I went into so much detail with regard to these birds because I thinkthat it might be of interest to those who road my article. Only the comingyears will tell whether my success last year was repres9ntative or not.

From Pomona comes the report that for three years but nineteen CaliforniaPurple Finches were taken, but in 1941 the number jumped to 187.

From Oregon similarly comes word that fifteen Western Chipping Sparrowsmake the ordinary number banded each year over a period of several years, then inone month 121 were taken.

Naturally the unusual bird at any station is frequent subject for reportat different station. Here belongs Mr. Allen's Painted Redstart (News, Mch., '42:10and Mch., '43:11). Also a white throated Sparrow in W8stern Oregon (News, Aug.,140: 31) .

Mrs. Otis Smith reported an American GOlden-eye •••. "picked up on a drylot in San Anselmo, brought to me as a Mallard! How or why was he there, I've neverbeen able to fathom, but an American Golden-eye nearly starved and very thirsty hewasil.

Mrs. Rice of Logandale, Nevada reports the banding of a verdin, a birdseldom reported within the records of recent years. Other examples of the unusualbird are, a Cooper Tanagar reported by Mr. Rich of Alhambra; Mrs. Carman of GrandJunction, Colorado reports the visit of a Harris Sparrow which is a rare bird inthe vicinity of her station. By the way, do you know tile origin and connotationof the term 'rara avis'?

Mrs. Alfer's house trap took a Cooper Hawk, also a Screech 01'11,' thefirst evidently seeking prey, .the. second seeking .water. Hummingbirdshavetwice been reported in water traps.

From the Ericksons in Oregon comes report of a Screech Owl in theearly morning in a two,...cellPotter trap; its presence was explained by the pres-ence of a smaller bird in the 0 thar cell of the trap and, however much thelittle bird may have ·been frightened, it was unharmed. Amore surprising catch,surprising to the trapper, was a cat in a Modesto trap. A recurrence of thiscatch was prevented by a wire so placed that the outlet door could not be swungin until the wire had been removed. Gra;y diggers have often been taken in birdtraps often to the detriment of the trap.

Mr. Charles G. Thompson reports from Berkeley uIn the summer of 1941 Ibanded 82 young song sparrows and in 1942 about half that many. Judging fromthe few repeats I wonder what becomes of the song sparrows I' . Q,uery, Do theyoung of migrant birds return in their second year to the place where they werefledglings? Is there any exact data to show whether in such cases as the abovethe birds were predominantly adults or immature birds of the previous year?

In reply to a query by the editor of the News as to the phase of birdstudy which was of most interest to readers of the paper, the subject most oftenmentioned was traps and bait. In spite of frequent notes on the subject littleimprovement has come to light in either the type or methOd of use of either trapor bai t.

About the same traps are used in the main by all banders. Mrs. Ayeris ~he only one to mention a house trap. The Modesto funnel trap is proving tobe a valuable addition to the trapper's equipment. Th0 crying ne~d now is for atrap or traps that will catch Flickers and Woodpeckors. Next is a trap or tech-nique that will take Robins at.othar than nesting time.

There is ovidence that man,y, perhaps most, 'banders make their owntraps, or some of them. An occasional approv~l is axpressed for the use ofsmall mesh wire cloth in their construction since tho larger mesh is likely tocause injury to the bird in its efforts to escape. A canary cage attached tothe limb ofa' tree and oporated from a distance by a No. 8 thread was successfulin taking Woodpeckers and Nuthatch~s as intended; also in taking various otherbirds according to the r~~ort of Mr. Peterson of Diablo, California.

The baits most often used are seeds, crumbs and berries of variouskinds. Two diverse opinions on the water trap are these: "Water is a bait thatcan always be used wi th excellent Tasu! tsll• Fr. Severin Baumann, on the otherhand "I've hadno luck at all in the use of a water trap .••. Birds only enter itwhen bait of some sort (usually raisins) was usedu. Sum Gadd, Colorado Springs,Colorado, another pair of contrasting opinions are thesl): "I have found a watertrap an excellent addition to our bird banding sta tion". C. Selwyn Rich ofAlhambra, California. "Water bai t has worked well at times but in general I havebeen disappointed in the result". Dr. Louis A. T:3st, Lindsay, California,

Bright colored and sweetened water is,generally recognized as dependablein attracting Hummingbirds. More recently either other birds have learned to pro-f!tby the attraction or observers are coming to recognize that the 'attractiondraws Arizona Hooded Orioles a1 so. Mr. Rich fastens a tube in a trap and so takesthe Orioles' twelve in just a few da.ys'. Other baits mentioned are cornmeal, pea-nut butter, watermelon and muskmelon seeds, block salt, and sprouted grain.

An ingenious procedure remains, to be cited. Mr. Crawford trapped ternand killdee'r by using their eggs for lure) doubtless putting the drop trap which heused over the eggs where they lq. The eggs were not injured and hatched in dueseason.

And last of all the raiders of the traps must be mentioned. Hawks fre-quently attempt to reach birds ina trap but are not usually successful. Mrs. Ayerfound a ~awk in her house trap; its mission there being indicated by thescattered feathers of some unfortunat~ bird. A screech owl in one cell of a Pottertrap with a small bird in the adjoining cell tells its own story. So d03s a catin a Modesto trap. Mr. Crawford reports that a shrik9 killed a linnet in ana ofhis funnel traps. Gray diggers and rock squirrels enter traps probably for thebait. The first of these often damage the trap in seeking means of escape. Andthe wri ter has had more than one trap stolon or destroyed by boys, whose act hetries to persuade himself (and only half successfully) was dona in defense of thebirds, the boys misunderstanding the purpose of the trR.ps. Have the schools gotthis far in their education of tho children in bird lore?

Such data as the above suggest that in the matter of bird study as inall life studies there are a few constants and many variables. In the case ofbird study the variables include the bird itself, the birdts habitat, and thestudent. Any problem with so many variables will have many answers and much ex..•perimental study will be required for a final solution. The data piled up byhundreds of 'banders contributes to this end. '

A list of all the birds banded at a single sta.tion is printed from timeto time in the belief that it offers an approximate, very R.pproximA,te survey, ofthe birds in the vicinity of the station. The number of each variety banded ifgiven is a rough index of the relative number of each variety. Of course, manyfactors such as the personal equation of the bander, mak9 such data only veryrough approximations, if the racord given is for one year only; somewhat loss so,if data for several years are given. In this co~~ection ~e summary which followsis worthy of study. These birds were all trapped on a ten acre tract on which wereorchard trees, native oak and fir trees, native brush and planted flowering shrubs.

Summary by Years of Birds Ba.nded byThe Ericksons, Salem, Oregon

1938 1939 19408 13 4

1, 7

1132

Vall ey q,uailRufous HummingbirdViolet-green SwallowCalifornia JayBlack-capped ChickadeeChestnut-backed Chickadee

19416

Totals311

281251

9

Summary (Cont'd)Bush-Ti tRed-breasted NuthatchSlender-billed NuthatchPygrrw Nu tha tchCreeperBewick WrenHouse WrenRusset-backed ThrushHermit ThrushVaried ThrushWestorn RobinWestern BluebirdGold-crowned KingletCedar WaxwingWarbling VireoCassin VireoAudubon WarblerOrange-crowned WarblerYellow WarblerBlack-throated Gray WarblerMacgillivray Warbler

VI!. Yellow-throated"""~ vPileolated WarblerLong-tailed ChatWestern TanagerBlack-headed GrosbeakLazuli BuntingQalifornia Purple FinchWillow GoldfinchGreen-backed GoldfinchPine SiskinRed CrossbillSpotted TowheeSavannah SparrowFox SparrowOregon JuncoWestern Chipping SparrowsWhite-crowned SparrowsGolden-crowned SparrowWilite-throated SparrowRustry Song SparrowLincoln Sparrow

TotalsTo tal Species

1188

453

34826

193988

83122326411

40

69934

.~

2332

~11132

1210121

3619

151

63434

Totals4216521

3247·921

36171258

4752

23758161

42247

7421

933

2481

1593317883861

935

2,38848

I think that I have wri tten you of the Bohemian Waxwings that came inlast winter, that is, during Ule winter of 1941-1942. They came in Dece~ber, onthe 20th, and were very hungry. The weather was qui to cold and most of theavailable food was covered with snow, with the exception of the Russian Olivesand Ivy Berries, consequently they trapped quite easily. This winter, theweather was not so severe. anel they did not appear until February 5th. They werenot SO numerous and altho they ate a few raisins and would tak3 water, they wouldnot enter the traps so I did not get to band any the past season. The variousgroups apparently came thru but would not stay very long.

6915

223301623

29__ 4_

70736

A short time B.@O, I received a return on a Prairie Falcon that broughtback the memory of an interesting incident.

liOn the 24th of June, 1939t my son and I were exploring some cliffsalong the edge of the Teapot Dome Naval Reserve, in the hopes of finding some late-nesting hawks or owls. We had covered one particular point on the trip down andthought we had explored it thoroughly, because we had roused one of the parentfalcons, and it continued to SCr3aID whenover we came near this point in the cliff.No matter how hard we looked, we were unable to find a nest and concluded that theyhad raised a brood in that vicinity 'but that they had recently left. We continuedon down the line of cliffs and on the return we passed under this point and as thewind happened to be coming in our direction, we made no noise. When we approachedcloser we could hear a nest of young falcons calling for food. After that it wasonly a matter of a few minutes to locate the nest, which was in a small crack inthe rocks part way down the cliff. There were four fully grown and featheredyoung Pra.irie Falcons, having some of the most beautifully marked plumage that Ihave ever seen on this bird. In addition to thG four in the nest, there werevarious parts of anoth~r one and from the fresh appearance of what flesh andfea,thers that were lef~ we concludsd that it had just recently b';lenkill~d and eatenby its brothers and sisters. Consequently, we always referred to this nest as the"Cannibals".

Inasmuch as there was no oth~r food in the nest cavity, we concluded thatthe parents had abandoned them and that they were starving, SO after banding them,we went out and shot a rabbit and placed it in the nest. A couple of days laterwe killed another rabbit and took it up to them. They were still there and as pertas ever and more than willing to eat.

I t was some time later that I was thinking of this incident and the lightfinally dawned on me that I had intruded on one of the processes of Nature aspractiead by the F~athered People and I did not feel quite so magnanimous. It wasvery cloar; after remembering the beautiful plumage and strength of the nestlings,that they had not been starved, but had been well fed up to a certain pOint and thatthe time had arrived for them to leave the nest and what better method for theparents to get them out th~l to stop feeding them. I had watched Bluebirds luretheir young from the nest in this way but somehow I did not connect it with theFalcons. How disgusted those Parent Birds must have felt with me when I placed therabbit in the nest cavity.

On the 14th of October, 1942 one of the birds from this nest was shot atFort Laramie, Wyoming. A very sad ending for a lusty young "Cannibal".

C. R. BerryBox 1767, Casper, wyoming

Throughout 1942 our station was quiet. Spent much time screening thehome garden from home birds. Must protect everythi~s from 52 quail at the frontdoor and 48 quail at the back door, to say nothing of the uncounted gOlden-crowns,in season, for all of them must have their vitamins.

I've had a banding permit since May 1927, but did no t have traps to useuntil January 1928. I started banding because the boys were not old enough to doit, but each "came of agell and now we have 3 bird-banders in the family, thanksto the ever-helpful Micheners. We have banded very few, however, chiefly golden-crowns, around 700 in all.

Wehave, .learned that birds are very possessiv'3. If we'put what theythink belOngs to thorn into a trap, they go in to get it out. Mockers claim ourpyracantha. hedge. Ifw~ put its berries, even grG3n ones, in a tra.p, we'can.c.Ount on. getting the mockers. A hl3,wkw~l1 go after the body of the bird it haskilled .• ,4 Bawick wren will drive a lizard, .and even its own children, away fromthe cleat. behl~dthe shutter where.it sle'3ps.

Bowever, we put a qualil~ egg, which we had picked up in the driveway,into a trap. Immediately a ja~>went in. Wetook him out. Then a gray squirrel,then a king snake. Lastly, a female quail Whoseemed to have been sent in by herscolding spOl,],seto redeem her property. All th.ese 111'1 thin three hours' time. Why?

A wren dislikes water and. pre.fars. dust for bathing purposes. When.therains ca.me,'we P\lt a pie pan of sifteddr-I dust under a bench on the 'terrace,and he had a dust bath in his personal "tub" at bedtime each night, whateverthe weather •

Camping at Rae Lakes, 2 miles high, one morning everything was ice,.noteably the dishcloth. which became saUd as· soon as it dropped onto the table.Ten or fifteengolden-cro~s appeared for breakfast. This was an over-nighthike, and we had no traps. It would have been interesting to know if thesebirds came down to our valleys.

Alice Ward (Mrs. Hubert H.)959 Matadero Ave., Palo Alto, Calif.

My banding station is in the foothills of Tularemiles from Porterville. I have around the house about twoshrubs, planted twelve years ag? and nO;Nquite a thicket.many birds not seeri here before.

County about fiveacres of nativeThis cover attracts

I have banded 919 birds in the sixteen years since I began. Golden-crowned Sparrows predominate with Gambels a close SGcond.

I ~se cloverleaf and homemadetwo-cell drop door traps. Have foundmilo or wheat coarsely ground the best bait. I have learned many interestingthings ab~ut birds since I began banding.

Barn and Longeared Dwls occupy the ba.rrels I placed for them in barnand sheds. Ro~k Wrens nest in the wr-:m'boxes. This year I have put up flickerboxes which! hopewUlbe attra.ctivea.t nosting time.

Walter L. Rich~rdsonStar Route #2 Box 321, PorterVille, Calif.

I have been:servingBeverlyGlen'Canyon as Sec'y-Treas. of its HomeDefense Committee and am an air raid warden, at present the senior in charge ofall Civilian Defense activiti8s. Little time is left for consistent birding.Accordingly, except for occasional brief periods throughout the year, I have leftthe traps unset, substituting feeding and observing for trapping and banding.

Wheth8r from trapping abstinence or from the pres~nc9 of a scarecrowerec tad in conjunc tion .i th a modest Vic tory garden (to which scarecrow theyhave become truly companionable) I do not know, but the birds appear friendlierand in greater profusion than heretofore. My shallOW, ground-level bird bath,

set in a recess on a shaded north elope is corivention headquarters for an activegathering of most of the chaparral residerits'and numerous migrants, mostly Ail~ubonwarblers. This past late fall has brought quite a few fox sparrows and hermitthrushes and some golden .•crowned sparrows. As to the latter, I banded 15 Golden .•crowns in 1938 between January 27 and April 29: banded one only on Jantlary29,1939, captured together with one previously bandad the year before (April 271 1938);but haven1t seen a Golden-crown since then until this season, the first one ~offour) being banded on November 29, 1942. This raises a question: Where have theGolden-crowned Sparrows bean during the three intervening winter 'seasons?

I have caught most birds in the W.B.B.A. modified Government sparrowtrap, although the W.B.B.A. two-compartment traps have been close seconds. Insummer dripping water is the best bait or lure; likewise water is good the yearround. If food is used for bait, various foods are good seasonally. Bread crumbsare always good bai t, whi to breads befng preferred to the darker breads. Raisins,chick feed, some pastry are the alternates.

I have never had a report of capture elsewhere of any of ~'bandedbirds, which, in the case of the few migratory species mentioned, causes me towonder if bird banding, relatively and thus fart hasn't barely IIscratched thesurfacell•

If any one is interested in Observing any of the chaparral birds,particularly the wren-tits, at close range this will constitute a standing invita-tion to visit ~ station in Beverly Glen Canyon north of Sunset Blvd. in WestLo s .A.ngele s•

Hatch Graham10300 Viretta Lane, Los Angeles, Calif.

I had been reading Dr._Gustav Eckstein1s book, Among ~ Friends*and asthe book still lay open before me I pondered the strange story told by the authoror better I pondered what sort of man was he who had this strange friendship withbirds and not with birds only but also with little animals and a like friendshipwi th JOe the foreign-born gardener. And as I sough t to recall any 0 thaI' writerwhose work or personality is of like'character ineVitably the first to come tomind was St. Francis of Assissi for the uniqueness of Dr. Eckstein's book is theauthor's point of view, the way in which he makes himself on3 with his friends.

What is the tone of Eckstein's book? ~ne author is by profession ascientist, a teacher in a medical school, most of his waking hOurs, and they arenot limited to the usual hours of the day, are spent in the laboratory: yet thebook is as far as possible from what those facts would lead one to exp~ct. Thetone of the book is implicit in the title, Among MY Friends, no condescension inthat, not ~ pets, not my canaries but ~ friends and so inevitably we think ofSt. Francis who called the lark his sister and th~ donkey his brothar, who entered"humbly and joyfully' in to th'3 fellowship of creation. H Who like the poets fromTheocritusto Tennyson feel in the birds and flowers the like emotions and thoughtswith themselves. Yet the poets use this attitude only as a poetic device; Ecksteinlives the part, his friends live in his desk drawer, his turtles explore the floor,his birds are all about the laboratory, his little green parrot goes with himunder his coat to the symphony concerts.

*Among My Friends.The Readers Club.

Gustav Eckstein.194.:1 $1.50.

The author's extreme anthropomorphism (the five syllable word seemsentirely out of place in consideration of this simple, direct narrative) willshock the out and out scientist: his macaw giggles; he notes a sadness abouther (the macaw1s) eye. No mere figures of speoch these. His pets are trying tounderstand him as he is trJing to understand them.

If one is trying to make a truly scientific study of birds, the an-thropomorphic attitude is quite impossible. If one is seeking to enter into andbecome a part of the world in which he lives, in very fact the poet may be noless likely than the scientist to arrive at the truth. And if among the bandersthere are poets as well as scientists, this book deserves a place along withother more scientific studies.

Two a ther books of recent publ ica tion, alike in general plan yettotallY unlike in character, mark a distinct trend in bird books. The two are,Jungle in ~ Clouds* and The Trail Qi the Money Bird.** Both have as centralmotive a bird qU(:lstin a remote foreign field: each incorporates with the centraltheme a most interesting story of exploration in tropical lands, at that timelittle known to the outside world tho subsequent events have brought the localeof the second into the spotlight.

The Jungle in the Clouds is a narrative about an expedition undertakenby the author, Victor v. Hagen and his wife, a botanist, into the remote interiorof Honduras in search of the bird Q,uetzal, a "bird whose history is interwovenwith that of the Aztecs ~ld Mayans, of whiCh tradition says that the bird willnot live in captivity, and which has the reputation of being the most beautifulbird in the world. The expedi tion was successful in bringing birds back toNew York and London thereby disproving the tradition and at least extending thebird1s reputation for beauty.

As if the bird quest were not enough the book includes a very readableacoount of the finding of a small group of Jicaques who through isolating them-selves long years have degenerated culturally until they are little more thanstone age men, shy, suspicious, retiring.

On the other hand the adventurers visit the Mayan ruins at Copan wherethe beautiful remains of a lost cul ture are still to be seen, tho the people whocreated these structures are gone and only conjecture can say whither or whencethey came. .

In the Trail of JhQ Money ~ the author, Dillon Ripley, begins hisnarration of adventure with the voyage across the Pacific Ocean in a sixty footschooner to his objective, ~ Guinea and other islands whither he goes to ob-serve and collect the many scarcely known birds of this remote region. Amongthe trophies which he brings back with him on his return are nearly one hundredlive birds. But interspersed with the story of bird collection is the story ofadventure in a wild and even cannibal land. These the author has combined insuch a way that the result is an unusually readable book and one that will cast

* Jungle in the Clouds. Victor Wolfgang v. Hagen, F.Z.S. Illustrated. 1940.Duell, Sloan and Pearce, New York. $3.50 .

•.••Trail of the Money Bird. Dillon Ripley. Illustrated. 1942.Harper a.nd Bro thers. $3.50.

a favorable halo about bird study in the popular mind. John Kieran s'ays of thisbook "He (the author) steers a grand course between the popular travelogue andheavily scientific journals. It is a swell book. I can recommend it wholeheart-edly".

In this mechanized age dare one mention an old, a very old book? Our-rent events may make this the one time when the book may be brought to the fore -The Birds, a famous comedy, the work of Aristophanss and produced in Athens fourhundred and fourteen years before the Ohristian Era. Even then birds were a sub-ject of interest and for that matter birds have had a place in history and litera-ture since the day of tho Roman Eagles and before.

In that year the city was all agog over the contemplated invasion ofSicily and the final departure of the Athenian fleet on the brilliant but 111-starred expedition that met disaster at Syracuse. And now Sicily and Syracusehave again been brought into history by the invasion of a foreign armed force.How different all the externals; how alike in the fortunes of men.

But back to ~ Birds. The theme of the comedy is peace. Today lookingforward to the return of peace we appoint commissions and discuss the world to be.Aristophanes on the other hand produced a comedy in which he projected a time ofpeace in the never, never land of the birds.

Would you know some of the birds deemed sui table for the comic stage?Among them were the jackdawt raven, hoopoe, nightingale, peacock, owl, partridge,woodcock, jay, turtledove, lark, pigeon, shrike, falcon, cuckoo, kestrel, grebe,osprey, and woodpecker. The comedy must have brought as much relaxation as amodern world series.

As reported to the August meeting of the Los Angeles Bird .•BandingOhapter it has been known for some months that opossums are living at the Michenerstation in Pasadena, Oalifornia. Both large and small ones (perhaps one-thirdgrown) have been seen after dark eating apple on the window shelf. What to dowith them was the question. It has been said that they are great destroyers ofthe eggs of birds and of their young. Acting on this thought' one young one was

.sent to the Humane Society. But the next morning when a big one was found in thetl wild animal II trap it was remembered tha t the snail s whi ch used to be such a pe stin the garden had almost disappeared. Do 6possums eat snails? The two animalbooks immediately available say they eat almost everything, The opossum was re-leased. Soon afterwards a man who has a large place in western Pasadena said he1ikes to have opossums on his place. "They eat the snails. tl More recentlyDr. Bishop left for perusal a copy of The Bobwhite Quail by Herbert L. Stoddard,this being the final report on the Oooperatlv'3 Q,uqil Invostigations carried on bythe sponsoring commi tteo in cooper'1,tion with the U. S. Biological Surv9Y, fromMarch 17, 1924 to June 30, 1929. Th~ book is d~t9d 1936. Th~ work was in ch~rg9of Mr. Stoddard and was done chiefly in Georgia and surrounding areas.

In discussing the natural anemies that destroy quail eggs in the nestthe book says, liThe opossum (Didelphis virginiana) ..••may be classed as one ofthe most serious enemies of the quail, regardless of the fact that the destructionof only seven quail nests could be definitely traced to it. As a rule the opossumleaves little "sign" at the site of a rifled nest, so that actual fiXing of guiltupon it is impossible in some cases when no doubt it is the culpri t •.•• " Theywere charged with the destruction of sev~n nests out of the 223 destroyed by

The above statement seems too severe against the opossum in view ofthe figures given in the book. There are seven enemies listed that are chargedwith the destru.ction of from about one and one-half to nine times as many nestsof eggs as the opossum and only three that are charged with fewer, - crows 5,jays 6, and turkeys 5. There are only 29 nests of eggs listed as destroyed byunknown enemies whi1~ dogs, foxes, man, opossums, raccoons, snakes, and w9aselsare all mention9d as probably destroying mor~ than actually charged with. Allof these lcav8 little signs at the nest. Since destroyed nests of eggs are d9-finitely charged to this list of en3mies atth·3 rate of dogs 19, man 10,opossums 7, snakes 14, it does not seem fair th~t a~y distribution of th9 29nests destroyed by unknown enemies among the sev~nmembers of this group shouldassign any large number against the opossum. Besides no credit is given theopossum for being "the natural enenw of the cotton ratll which is charged withthe destruction of 21 nests of eggs. (The quotation is from American Animals byWi tmer Stone and Wm. E. Cram, The New Nature Library, 1914.)

Later the question of how the opossums became established in .southernCalifornia was raised. Mr. John J. Cleary said that he had been told by severalpersons that 15 'or 20 years ago some ",ere shipped to Pasadena. At the railroaddepot the shipping crate was brok8n open and the opossums ,scaped. He had notbgen told why, by \Vhom or to whom the opossums had been Qhlpped. If anyone cangive further inform9.tion on this subj"lct -pleas3 send it to the editor.

~le following is a copy in part of a letter sent a short time ago bythe Business Manager of the Association to a correspondent the contents of whoseletter may be inferred from the reply. The reply so well states the purpose andcharacter of the NEWS that it is worth while to give it publicity sO that thepurpose not of the News alone but of the organization may be kept clearly inmind by all members as an aid and incentive to constructive cooperation in for~warding the aims of the Association. The reply follows,

liThe Group who form9d th? WJst,rn Bird-Banding Association and thosewho have been largely rcsponsibla for all th~)hard work that p.as kept i~ goingare largely members of the Cooper Club. For this reason there has always 'been aclose tie between the two organhations and most of the banders have offered theresults of their more scientific studies to the Condor for publication, Ofcourse, that has been for the 'benefit of both the Condor and th<tbander becauseappearance in a mimeographed periodical such as the News is pot usually consid-eredpublication, and besides, ~t veaches comparaHveJ,y few people. Extensivereports, such as that of Dr. EriokBonts to which you refer, usually cannot behandled even by the Condor or other similar magazines.

tiThe News has always aira~d at promoting the banding methods of study-ing orni tho logy , at drawing the band(,lrsof western North .America into a commun-ity of interests, at th~ exchange of ideas amongst tho band3fs. ~fit hasfailed in these aims the banders of the west are largely responsible, because oflack of cooperation wi th the editors, The edi tors cannot pu.:).lQutClf the skynotes on interesting work that may ~ave been done at a station in , • , • • forinstance. -

IlIas~ure you, that the offioers of t~e Western Bird..,]anding Associationare all trying to do tneir best for the bandi~ of th~ west, to promote, to add

to the joy of, studying birds. That is particularly difficult at present becausethere are so few people who can devote any time to bird-banding and its related -----studies. However, they do feel that they have a right to wish that those few whocan continue their studies would unselfishly lend a helping hand to improve uponthe present results. I am sure that the ed.itors 'IfOuldwelcomecontributions.lI

Tb the last sentence above the editors of the News can only add a mostcordial and hearty Amen.

For approximately a year the Los Angeles Chapter of the Western Bird-Banding Association has been supplementing its monthly meetings by the circulationby mail of copies of th'3minutes of those meetings to all its members. The minutesare wri.tten into a rather extensive report (4 or 5 typewri tten pages) and fivecopies are circulated, each to a group of from 4 to 8 persons.

The original intention was to circulate the minutes of a meeting onlyto those who did not attend that meeting but later, in order to avoid the necessityof reading the minutes at the next meeting, they were circulated to all members.This saved consid~rable meeting time which could better be used for reading mess-ages from those who could not attend. Such members have responded to thG requestthat those who could not come to a meeting should have messages in the hands ofthe secretary prior to the meeting. Tht:;scheme seems to be working admirablY,al-though banding in general is at a low ebb and the ~ttendance at most of the meet-ings is small, and the interest of the group does not seem to lag.

A similar trial is recommended to any local group of banders who arehandicapped in their desire to get together. To those members of the W.B.B.A.residing in southern California, who are not already members of the L. A. Chapter;---a hearty welcome to its meetings is extended. -- H. M.

Fr. Severin Baumann sends this return item. This return concerns a robini41-3310l5 that I banded here at the Mission (Santa Barbara) on March the second,nineteen hundred and forty-two. About June the tenth, nineteen hundred and forty:;.,three at Creston, B. C., Canada, Mr. H. Ada,ms of Ceston found this bird dead.

From Fr. Norman Claas come two returns on Whi te-cro'WIl3dSparrows whichhe banded at San Luis Rey. #41-160177 was banded October 19, 1942. It was shotat Bell, California on February 1, 1943. The other White-crown #41-171911 wasbanded January 30, 1943~ it was killed February 28, about eight miles northeast ofElsinore, California. Nei th-3r of these two returns is remarkable for distancecovered, but they do give one an indication of the tim8 some white-crowns commenceto migrate. '

Mrs. Ayer gives this report concerning the return of two orioles bandedas immature males on July 4, 1938 and July 19, 1938 resp3ctively. Both returnedon May 24, 1941 and again on June 28, 1943 and on June 29, 1943 respectively.Neither was trapped at any other time. "Had they been a male and female it wouldno t have been so unusual."

It may be informative to add this negative result. Mr. Graham reports asas of January 1 last "I have never had a report of capture elsewhere of any of mybanded birds." He had banded a total of'578 birds in six years of banding.

,Have you ever seen a woodpecker attempt to alight on a swaying 'Wire'

Just once and that recently such an attempt entertained the beholder for severalminutes. The bird1s gyrations outdid the best antics of the mockingbird, thewoodpecker even hanging head down before it gave up the effort to balance on thewire and flew to a nearby oak.

Two reports lately come to hand of the efforts of the schools to in-terest school children helpfully in bird life lead to contradictory conclusions.Mrs. Henry Rice reports from Logandale, Nevada, such efforts under the sponsor- fsnip of the .Fish and Wildlife Service with favorable results.

From Modesto, Mr. Irl Rogers reported at a recent meeting of theLos Angeles Chapter "1 made arrangements with a group of youngsters to help meband hawks and owls this spring, but a so-called teacher sent out a half hundredschool boys egg hunting and they skimmed the country not only of hawks .and,owlsbut of waterfowl as well, not to mention nickers, redwings and other birds.There ough t to be a law."

The following item clipped from a Pasadena paper was sent in byMr. Frank Crawford. It was received just as the last period was being struck.Under the above heading and the date line of Washington, October 19, (AP) itsaid, "A flock of Pintail ducks, almost too exhausted to quack, has completedthe first reoorded duck flight of 3600 miles from the Uni ted States to Pal~raIsland, a tiny spot in the Pacific 1100 miles south of Honolulu, the Fish andWildlife Service reported."

The Southern California Edison News, in its issue of October, 1943,prints a photograph over the caption "J. E. Howard of Santa Monica E.D.S. isholding a 'COOked' owl with a rat in its claws which he took from a bank ofcapacitors in Beverly Hillett•

Both 'animals are dead and the owl's feathers are badly burned. Theowl must have looked in on a cooking school sponsored by some power company buthe did not learn the advantages of modern cooking equipment. -- H. M.

NEWS FROM "THE BIRD BANDERSWestern Bird-Banding Ass1n

Mailed from418 North Hudson AvenuePasadena (4)'" California

" Mr. Irl Rogers, 402 .Alturas Ave., Modesto, California, has a few RogersTwo-V-Cell traps for sale at $3.00 each. They are new, made "for the good of theorderll from.pr'e-priority hardware clo th and have, been glven~e Rogers personaltouch. Those interested should address Mr. Rogers'. Drawing' and description canbe found in the News, Vol XI, Decamber 1938, PP. 49-50.

For EMERGENCY SUPPLY OF BANDS andinformation in regard to banded birds found, address

Mr. Harold Michener, 418 No. Hudson A:venue. Pasadena 4, California

For MEMBERSHIP AND DUES. addressMrs. N. Edward q'3r, Business Managor, 1300 Hillcrest Dri\l'e,Pomona, California.

Associate • . . • • • . .Ac ti ve • • • • • • •Sustaining • • • • .• •Life (Total, not yearly)

W.B.B.A.$1.001.005.00

50.00

W.B.B.A. and COQperOrnithological Club

$ 3.503.507.50

125.00Members outside the United States add twenty-five cents to the first

three items of the last column for additional postage on The Copdor .If C.O.C. dues of $3.00 have been paid direct, remit difference to• Members are urged to subscribe to the quarterly journal Bird-Banding

published by the Northeastern, Ea8tern and Inland Bird-Banding Associations. Thisannual subscription, normally $2.50, can be had by members for $2.00 in addition' •to any of the above-stated dues •

•

Issued quarterlyby the

Western Bird-Banding Association

Size lB Bands For Gambel Sparrows•

Co-editors of the NewsMary M. Erickson, S~ Barbara, Calif.Frank M. Erickson, Santa Barbara, Calif.

Address all coritributionstoMiss Mary M. Erickson, 165 Foothill Road,

President of W.B.B.A ••.• F. G. Crawford2782 Glen Avenue, Altadena, Calif.

the fu§ toSanta Barbara, California

A Research student at Emory University, Georgia, asks assistance in hisstudy of the English Sparrow, Passer domesticus. He seeks to determine what morpho-logical variation, if any, has occurred in the species since its introduction into thecountry.

He proposes to send a corrugated shipping box equipped to the smallest de-tail, food, water, labels and full directions, for shipment of a maximum of 14 birdsby express collect. ~here are no legal restrictions on such shipments 1s the assurancegiven. Banders who have sparrows about will be glad to get rid of even a few in thename of science. Report your willingness to cooperate to John B. Calhoun, Departmentof Biology, Emory University, Emory University, Georgia.

A letter from Mr. Laidlaw Williams of W.B.B.A., which tells its own story,will have an appeal to all western banders, who if possible will be glad to sell orlend a trap to furthor this important research.

I am bandir~ very little more than one species, the Brewer Blackbird, ofwhich I am attempting a color-band behavior study. I believe I could trap them moreeffectively than I have in the past and would like to try a Modesto trap. Since newtraps of this type are unavailable, and since hardware cloth is scarce and thereforewill not serve as material to make one of these traps, I should like to offer cashfor a secondhand one. Would a~ retired bander care to sell me a Modesto Funnel Trap?What trap has been most successful in trapping this species in the experience of otherbanders? Laidlaw Williams,

P.O. Box 453, Carmel, California

The News has one r'3ad<3r,a discriminating reader ~t that, perhaps two. Theproof of this boast is in a lett~r calling attention to two errors in the Octoberissue. On page 28 of that issue Mrs . Ayer' s house trap takes a Cooper hawk; on page29 the trap holasa pigeon hawk; same trap, same ha~k. With th8 original copy beforethe editor how could a Cooper hawk appear as a pigeon ditto? For a possible explana-tion read HA Distinguished Visi torI! in this issue and consider the mental state in-volved. For pigeon hawk on page 29 read Cooper hawk.

In the banding summary on page 30 read Western Yellow-throat for Yellow-throated Warbler. A sermon could be written here on the effect of the company onekeeps. Critics of much mor9 important manuscripts than this have had troubles of likekind, a nearby word slipping in where it does not Delong. William Bolitho in his book,TW3lve Against the Gods, says that Oolumbus himself did something of the sort, not atall to hi s oredi t.

I saw it first walking in the garden, from a neighbor's loft I supposed andgave little thought to it. But the next morning it was there again walking in quietdignity, pausing now and then for a closer scruti~y. Again it came'and again and thenI found it had chosen a roosting place in an angle of my roof just above the porch.But misfortune overtook it; it stood with feathers ruffled and in evident discomfort.In the morning we found it on the ground unable to rise. It was partially paralyzed,

one wing dragged on the ground, one leg was useless. We took it up and cared for it.It lay sometimes on its side, often on its back unable to rise. After a week ofcare it began to improve; it could stand and presen tly it walked again in the gar-den. Or as we sat in ths sunshine admiring the irridescent coloring of its neckand breast it stood near turning an inquiring eye now to one of us, now to the otherand we could but wonder What its responses were. At last we got trace of the ownerand returned the pigeon to its native loft; a handsome, banded, racing pigeon hewas. We miss him as we sit in the sun but hope he may again wing his way swiftlythrough the air and in each mind is the thought, the wish, tha.t he 1Il8y remember andCOIOO back some day.

EUSTACE LOWELL SUMNER, 1871-194~Members of the Western Bird Banders Association will be sa.ddened as they

learn of the death of Mr. Sumner; the Association 111111 miss his friendly coopera-tion; the individual members will feel the lOSS, for he more than any other personprobably was in touch with individual members, for in addition to his active parti-cipation in Association affairs when headquarters were in Berkeley, on his frequentexcursions in bird study he never failed to greet any banders Who lived along hisway.

Members of the Association who knew Mr. Sumner only in his later yearswill associate him with the West, actually he was born in the East, Cambridge, Mass.July 10,1871, the son of Arthur Sumner and Mary Augusta (Upton) Sumner. However,the family soon moved to Oakland and took up resldencf3 about where Mills College nowstands. There and in the vicinity of Lake Merritt, a favorite haunt, he learned toknow the local birds by name, collected eggs and made the beginning of what provedto be a valuable avocational interest.

In the years following 1889 the family lived successively in ColoradoSprings, Minneapolis, where he graduated from the local Academw, again in ColoradoSprings and finally in New York City where he was Editor of the periodical MarineEngineering for fifteen years (1905-1920).

Married in 1906, two children survive him: Lowell, known to Associationmembers and a daughter Margaret, now Mrs. Henri L. Albee of Sacramento.

Because of the condition of his health the family moved in 1922 to Pomonaand shortly after, on the death of his Wife, moved to Berkeley. Herebis avocationbecame his chief interest. Hare he was associated with the University group ofthose who were occupied with bird study. In Berkeley he took up bird-bandingactively and became identified with the W.B.B.A. serving successively as BusinessManager and President. He was also a member of the Cooper Club and the AmericanOrnithologists Union and made frequent contributions to their publications.

From his years of business came habits of punctuality and accuracy whichhis easier years did not eradicate. His interest in birds was life-long: the studybegun in Oakland continued even during the years in New York~ relaxation on week-ends was found in bird walks, his companion at one period being his son then alittle boy. The manual used was Birds of Eastern North America by Cha~les K. Reed.And in later years graduate students of the University, among them the Junior Editorrecalls gratefully the excursions thsy were privileged to share. He did extensivebanding in Strawberry Canyon near the University and in late years participated inthe activities of Hastings Reservation, a University project, situated in MontereyCounty.

His death occurred at Peralta Hospital in Oakland on October first ofthis year. In the annals of the Association he has an honored place.

THE ViHIT£-THROATED SWIFTS OF SUCKER CREEK CANYONEditor's note. The Key Reporter (Phi Beta Kappa) in its Winter issue for

1943-1944 contains the following item. At a joint banquet of Phi Beta Kappa and SigmaXi recently held at the University of Oregon Dr. Morton E. Peck, Phi Beta Kappa,Cornell Oollege, was honored as the "outstanding scientist of the State ofOregontl andwas presented with a plaque. For 33 years a professor at Willamette University, he re-cently retired from his position as head of the biology department but continues ascurator of the herbarium, which includes approximately 25,000 specimens of Oregonflora, collectad and given to the university by Dr. Peck, It is generally consideredto be the largost and most complete coll~ction of its kind.

This life work of Dr. Peck is now presented in book form as A Manual of theHigher Plants of Oregon. The book carrie. this inscription; "To my wife who has beenthrough many years my untiring 'assistant in field and herbarium, and has had a verylarge part in tho work of its pI"eparation." This inscription will explain the 'we' ofthe following ~rticle.

Sucker Creek CanyonSucker Creek is a small stream mainly within Malh~ur County, Oregon. It

ris~s several miles north of Jordan Valley and flows northward in a course nearly par-al13ling th~ Idaho line only a few miles distant. About fifto9~ miles south of Nyssai tturns to the eastward, cross(~s the state 11n:3, and empties into th9 Snake River atHom9dale, Idaho. Its only noteworthy faature is Sucker Creek C~on, a deep narrowgorge through which th9 str~~m flows, much of the way betw3)n vertical or overhangingwal19200 to 300 f~et in height. The main part of the canyon 1s leS8 than a mile inlength. A rough narrow rosd, always in bad repair, follows th~ stream. It is littleused at pr9sent, since th3building of a highway from Ontario southward on the Idahosid3 and reentering Oregon about 20 mila's north of Jordan Va),1'3y,diverts to the east •..ward the traffic between Ontario and Nevada, thus avoiding some very rough country.It was here we made our firsthand acquaintance with the Waite-throated Swift.

This bird has long been known to breed in Oregon, but without very definitereport as to 10ca11 ty. The most trustworthy records are also from Malheur County.

On June 21, 1928, we made our first visit to Sucker Creek Canyon, and stoppedfor an hour or two close to what was, ten years later, the nesting site of the swiftCOlony. Not one was seen, and we are quite certain that none were there at that time.Some time between this and our next visit ten years lat9r they must have moved in.Discovery of the Nesting Colon.y

O~rnesting colony was discovered July 9, 1938. We reached the canyon nearmidday. The first notice we had of the birds ~as their shrill twitter high overhead.The sound was unfamiliar, but the first glance told us they were swifts. There wereat least two possibilities as to species. It '!'Iasonly after long and careful obser-vation through the binoculars that we were able to make out with certainty the iden-tification marks, -- the white throat and flank-patches. So rapid was their flightthat much practice was needed to follow them for any distance with the glasses, andthere was Bome debate as to just where the white areas were. OccR.sionally a birdwould come somelll/hatlower, and finally the question was settled.

We quickly located the nesting site about 300 feet up the eastern wall ofthe canyon, and extending along it perhaps 200 feet. It consisted of a ~eries ofsmall horizontal clefts barely distinguishable from where we stood.

Our primary object was plant collecting, but we were so fascinated by ourdiscovery that we stood watching the birds hour after hOur, and finally decided tocamp where we wer~ until the next day and watch them until nightfall,

It was difficult to estimate the size of th~ colonyt but our final con-clusion was that there w~re between 30 to 40 pairs of birds,

.:An Eagle NeighborA little way above and to the south of the swift colony we made 'out a

huge nest of sticks on the edge of a narrow shelf. From the stlfle of its archi-tecture it was unquestionably the work of a large bird.. It had probably belongedto a pair of Golden Eagles, though the birds were not in evidence. Perhaps theseason's brood was already gone, as they leave the nest in June. Some distancefarther on was a large nesting colony of Cliff Swallows. But eagles and swallowsdid not greatly interest us while the swifts w~re circling overhead.

Sometimes the strip of sky visible between the canyon walls seemed swarm-ing with birds; a moment later perhaps hardly one was to be seen. Then they wouldcome pouring in again over the high escarpment of the wall, shooting upward, down-ward and across, each bird in its own widening or narrowing circle, at a speed thatmade it almost impossible to keep the eye trained on them for more than an instant.Some circled at such a height as to seem only dark dots darting across the sky;others swept far down between the canyon walls. Every now and then one or severaltogether would part from the gyrating swarm and shoot with undiminished speed,straight as the flight as an arrow, toward the vertical wall and the nest cavities.It was unbelievable that they would not be dashed to death against the ruggedbasalt, but they invariably shot straight into tho narrow cleft, and in two orthree seconds emerged as though projected into th~ air at nearly the same speedwith which th~y had entered.Swif ts in Fl igh t

So rapid was the wing movement of these birds that unless closely watchedit gave almost the same impression as that of a hwmningbird, -- a mere haze alongthe sides of the body. Occasionally, toward the end of a steep downward dip, therewas a short glide, when the appeara'nce was that of a dartingc-ross with the fourpointed arms all at right angles. When they came unusually near we could justdistinguish the whita throat and f+anks, and sometimes the light line down theabdomen. We had a good opportunity to compare the flight of the swifts with thatof the Cliff Swallows from the neighboring colony, as both could sometimes be seenat the same moment. In contrast with the movements of the SWifts, those of theswall~ws were slow, jerky and wanting in grace. The White-throated Swift wellmerits its scientific name, Aeronautes, Sailor of the Air.

As evening dr9w on and th~ canyon filled with shadows, thA swifts flewlower and lower. Whnn th0 last gleam had di3d in the eastern wall, th9Y b~gan allat once to shoot into the nesting clefts, and within two or throe minutes the lasthad vanished and the shrill twittering we had hAard almost constantly since ourcoming into the canyon, suddenly ceased.

We had made our camp beside the creek almost below the nesting site.Sometime during the night, perhaps near midnight, we awakened, and above the noiseof running water, we could hear the twitter of the swifts. It was the same wide-awake twitter we had heard during the day. It was a moonlight night, but the shadein the ca~yon was too deep for us to distinguish whether the birds were in flightor only at the openings of their nesting clefts, nor from th'3 sound alon'3 could ""3det8rmine their location. At least we eould be sure that th) sounds did not comafrom v8ry far within the cavities. Just how aarly their morning activiti~s b3ganwe did not asc9rtain. At any rate, they wer'7 in full flight by sunris~1. We loftthe canyon about eight o'clock.! Re turn to th3 Canyo_n

Our n0xt visit to Sucker Creek Canyon was on May 7, 1940. We were rewturning from a ~otanizing trip to southern Malheur County, and reached the nestingplace of the swifts between four and five in the afternoon, stopping for the nightat our old camping place.

A strong cold wind was blowing down the canyon and no swifts were to be -seen. Plant presses were got out and we began putting away our day I s col13cti,on 1n-sid a the car forprotec tion from the 'dnd. Suddenly tha familiar twitter droppeddown to us from the sky. We jumped from the car, upsetting plant pack and presses,and there, high above th~ canyon, a half dozen of the little flying cross~s appearedfor an instant and vanish'~d. We watched and listened at every opportuni ty until itgrew dark) but they did not return. The windrosp. to an icy gale, and we shiveredin our sleeping bag until morning, but neith3r during the night nor with the comingof daylight did we sa~ or hear more of our swifts. Our final conclusion was that inall. probability the f3w birds we had S'3on W9r.'Jth'lfirst contingent of th~ colonyn1wly arrived from the south, and not yet int~rested in nesting. As we had seen noWhi te-throated Swifts exc·3pt at this place on th3 pr!)sent or any previous trip, 1tS3ams very unlikely that these f~w individuals W3re merely passing migrants. We hopeand believe that they had. r~~ached th3 end of their northward journey, and that thisis still their summer home. If inaccassability to man is an advantage, no nestingplac'3 could be mora d'3sirable; and unless the rugged and 11 ttle uS·3d road through thecanyon shall be transformed .into a highway, which is not highly improbable, they arenot likely to be disturbed by any but their natural enemies. We like to think thatfor many years to come the few visitors to this wild and lonely gorge may hear theirshrill twittering and marvel as we did, at their all but incred.ible feats of flight.

Morton E. PeckWillamatte University, Sal9m, Oregon

My acquaintance with Spotted Owls was much like the common experience oflea.rning ofa new place or disease and then meeting it again and again in quicksuccession.

My first contact was in April 1943 while on a camping trip in Los PadresNational Forest in the Santa Ynez Valley over the m'ountains back of Santa Barbara.The first evening in camp we heard Horned Owls and Screech OWls, and then about 7:30a call which made usquastion, was it a dog or an owl? and with that the realizationthat nearby must be So Spotted Owl. Following the calls, which included both the bark-ing hoot and a musical high pitched twaeee, we found a pair of owls in a grove of liveoaks wh9r~ the brush-cover3d hillside gave way to the grassland and scatt1r3d oaks ofthe floor of the valley. It was not the wild mountain canyon of Hoffman, but it wasunqu~stionably the Spotted Owl. In the deepening shadows, tha two could be s~~n onthe lowar oak limbs above our hGads paering down at us as curiously as w~ W3re look-ing up at them. A. flashlight enabled us to m"lke out the rounaed h3ad, the brownishcoloring wi th numerous spots, and the dark eyes which gwe a flam,'!shine when theycaught the light just right. The two soon flew off in opposite directions.

On su~sequent days we heard or saw the owls each morning and evening, butwe slept too soundly to know much of their going and coming during the night. By even-ing observations and early Tieing -- 4:00 - 5:00 a.m. -- we found their roosting place.Twice it was in an oak tree which stood 100yards up the slope in a shallow draw witha brushy and wooded hillside to the west and a rather open one to the east. From 4:00a.m. on, the birds seemed to stay within audible range of the roosting tree. Bothtypes of calls were given frequently, and when we were n~ar ~nough to check, onese3med to give the barking not~ the other the twa ee3. Shortly after six o'clock theywere both on their roosting p:;rches, modarat'3 sized branches (about two inches indiameter) out from the trunk of the same troe and about 15 and 25 feet above the slope.They wer3 si13nt after about six-fifteBn, but preened, looked about, and blinked theireyes until after sev~m-thirty but finally seemed to 'be asleep.

Shortly before seven in the evening they began to rouse, preen, stretch,about, but often dozed off again. Soon after seven~thirt.Y, about the time ofsongs of the House Wren and the Black-headed Grosbeak, the owls began to talk

looklast

theand

(Vol ..18: 44, December, 1943) 44.

shift to nearby branches, and twenty to thirty minutes later, when it was too darkto check time or make notes, they fle~ out of range.

A third time in mid-afternoon we found them roosting in a tree lower inthe draw near an unoccupied camp site. They were anything but inconspicuous to onelooking for them, but they seGm3d not to be disturbed by our approach, and by theirmotionlessness m~ escape the notice of the casual passerby. As described by Dawsonthey were tame, confident; curious about us rath~r than alarmed and relativelyaasyto observe. We susp~cted a nest of young sOmewhere but could get no clue to itsposition. On a day three or four weeks later we did not find the birds roostinganywhere in the vicinity~

My subsequent contacts were less 3xtensiv~. From Jun·:)to September, atime which I sp~nt in Los Padres National For3st on thG northeast slope ofMt. Pinos, I h~ard the sam~ two calls a number of tim9S at night, but it was notuntil Septomber 7 that I saw an owl again. Late on3 9v3ning when I was riding upPleito Canyon~ I was startled by tho thud of a shadow,v form landing on a limb notfive feet aw~. In ths pa13 moonlight I could see the outline of a Spotted OwlWhich was ducking and twisting its h;~d and body in an amusing series of contor-tions as it inspact)d th~ intruder. After what se~med minutes it flew off only toreturn for anoth3r long inspJction. Whan it next flew away I continued up thecanyon. Some twenty minutes later as ~yhorse paused to rest from the steady climbup tha narrow wooded canyon, a Spottad Owl likawise stoppad on a nearby limb. Werewe being escorted from his domain?

DonaldPeattie in IIAudubon's America"., says. "When Audubon asserted thatvultures cannot smell their carrion food, but locate it by sight, his critics con-ducted experiments to prove that he was wrong. But John Bachman ••. took a putre-scent deer and covered it with a cloth. Not a vulture approached; when it ~as un-covered, they flocked at once. This controversy between the 'Nosarians ahd Anti-Nosarians' is still going on among ornithologists.1I

An article in the May 1943 issue of the American Mercury, by Alan Devoe,has started anew this controversy, and it might be interesting to rscall brieflysome of the more recent experiments along th3se lines.

In March 1927, Alexander H. Leighton mad~ some interesting observationswhich he relates in the Auk of July 1938. In aPsnnsylvania field, he plac9d asmall stuffed dear on a rock, and arrang",d it in the most lifeless attitude poss-ibls. To mak~ sure that no carrion existed in the vicinity, he employ~d theservices of a large dog, whose ability and ~nthusiasm for detecting carrion was un-questioned. The dog's offorts, however, were entir31y unrewarded, so the experimentwas bagun. Two vultures aPPGared in a shor t time, ihspec tad the si tUl'l.tion anddisappeared. The next day four vul turi3s repeated this performance, but flew away,apparently d9ciding tha.t the deer would not male'!good eating.

The next experiment was on the sense of smell. Eleven pounds of fairlyfresh, fatty meat was 'buried. Two crows came almost immediately and uncovered themeat, but no vul tures appeared until several hours after the meat had been exposedby the crows. On two other days this 03xperiment was repeated with the sarna meat,the odor of which had become very strong, but no vultures appeared. Mr. Leightonconclud3d that these oxperiments, while not forming a positive proof, backed thetheory that vultures do hot smell their food.

In the Auk for November of the same year, John B. Lewis writes that thereading of Mr. Leighton's experiments called to mind some similar ones which he hadmade in the months of February and July of 1927, and which had led him to the con-clusion that "1n cold weather wh,en littie odor is thrown off, eight is the vultures'chief means of locating food, but that they have no difficul ty in locating it by

scent alone in warm weather when the scent is strong." All of which leaves us exactlywhere we were before.

Now in 1943, Alan Devoe wrl tes that "A vul ture detects earth f s dead by sightnot scent", and the battle is on again.

Fred Dean Smith, in reply to this statement of Devoe's, writes in the AmericanMercury for October 1943, that he disagrees wi th Alan Devoe as he has "frequently dis-covered vultures ••• feeding on dead animals lying hidden in the denae vegetation oftropical Mexico where it is impossible for the carcass to be seen from the sky above dueto the interlaced foliage overhead. II

To this, Alan Devoe replies that ho thinks vultures, when they fly at greatheights, rely on sight to detect their food, but when flying at low altitudes theirlarge (and presumably acute) nostrils inform them of the whereabouts of their dead.

Harold Michener contributes this suggestion: "I do not think: that the factthat a vulture comes down to a carcass from such a height proves that he saw or smelledit from that height. It is my-hunch that, if the vultu~e was hungry, and was not soar-ing just for the fun of soaring, he said to himself, 'That looks like a likely place tofind something to eat. I'll go have a look.' Other VUltures, seeing his purposefulflight, followed. And on the one success, out of many such trials, the naturalist waswatching, and then knew positively that the vulture had seen or smelled the carcass from'thousands of feet in t:~eair 1.11

Mr. Smith wrote of two other interesting observations he had made on theactions of these Mexican vultures. He said that in the regions of petroleum explora-tions large accumulations of oil form pits where animals become entrapped at night andby morning will have comp19tely disappeared from sight; yet by noon the vul tures flyoV9rhead "ai ting for the bodies to be s(} decomposed that the gases -will elevate them tothe surface of ~!e pits.

Another proof to Mr. Smith of the "Nosarian" theory, is that empty five-gallon cans which have contained lard are thrown from certain refineries in Mexico,and are immediately surrounded by vultures who have paid no previous attention to cansof similar appearance lying nearby, which have contained merely kerosene or oil.

To complicate the matter still further, the sense of hearing has been broughtin by P. J. Darlington, Jr., who in 1930, while collecting be~tles in the tropics bythe use of carrion bai t, also attracted vul tures, and wrote, "Soon after the death ofan animal, the body attracts numbers of flies and beetles ••• ~1e resulting congregationof insects is noisy and conspicuous, ~d of a sort which does not occur except aboutdecaying material ••• Since vultures can undoubtedly see and perhaps hear such insectswarms at a distance, they have probably learned to recognize their significance.1I

-This matter came up for discussi9n at a recent meeting of the Los AngelesChapter of the i.B.B.A., and Dr. Louis Bishop told of two experiences which proved tohim that vul tures are led to their food by their sense of smell. Years ago, whilehunting near New Haven, Connecticut, he came to a place where there was a very strongodor of a dead animal. Immediately he saw a vulture flying directly toward him. Itcame on until at close range it saw him. Then it wheeled and flew awgy. He huntedaround in the brush and found th~re, concealed in th~ bushes, a dead dog. The inci-dent was impressed upon him because of the unusualness of seeing a vulture inConnecticut, where they seldom occur. -

The other incident took place y.ears later. He had shot a gull, but did notretrieve it. A vulture came sailing by at some distance from the dead gull but whenit crossed the wind blowing from ~~e gull it turned sharply and flew directly to thegull. Dr. Bishop said that vul tures havo very large olfactory bulbs, and that theyare undoubtedly developed and used for the purpose of locating their food.

Mr. Sidney Allen told of a case ne~r Altadena, in which the sheriffs hadsearched for many days for the bo~ of a hunter who had accidentally shot himself.

The buzzards, however, found him under a dense growth of brush and trees in the ex-act locality in which the men had been searching.

Mr. George Willett summed up the matter by saying that the question of sightor scent had been absolutely proved both ways many tim9s.

Mrs. N. Edward Oryer1300 Hillcrest Drive, Pomona, Oalif.

Editor's note. -- The Editors will welcome comments from the banders on this ques-tion. Have ~ made any observations on the habits of vul tures which prove con-clusively to your mind that their food is located by scent? Or by smellt

THREE EARLY ORNITHOLOGISTSWoodhouse's Jay, Bandire's Thrasher, MearnsJ ~uail, you know the birds

do you know the men whose names now identify the birds. Every one knows Nuttalland some m~ know two or three others of the early students of bird life whose namesare associated wi th certain birds, yet having known, the remembrance may have wornthin. Why not then review from time to time the important facts in the lives ofsome of the men to whom we are all indebted for the groundwork in ornithology andwhose names we bandy about hardly remembering the significance of the capitalletter. At the same time interest in bird study will be broadened and humanized insome small degree. Possibly banders who now live where the pioneers worked may beable to uncover items that will give local color.

Three men among the earlY ornithologists who worked in part in the south-west are alike in having been ar~ men. In order of time the,y are Samuel W.Woodhouse, Oharles Emil Bendire and Edgar A. Mearns. Woodhouse served in the U.S.Topographical Engineer Oorps during his early years; Bandire served in the armedforces 32 years and Mearns 26 years. Being ar~ men in the early days of thecountry they saw much of the West and Southwest; each for a time being stationed inthe West. Two of them. Woodhou.se and Mearns were arm,y surgeons. .As is to be ex-pected they were specially distinguished as field naturalists.

Samuel W. Woodhouse, 1821-1904.Samuel W. Woodhouse was born at Philadelphia: his father a high officer

in the Navy as was Mearns' father also; like Mearns too, he was a grad~~te in medi-cine, &ra~ating at the University of Pennsylvania and soon b9c~e a surgeon andnaturalist (a familiar pairing of interests in the early ar~) in the U. S. Tbpo-graphical Engineer Oorps.

At the Acade~ of Natural Science he had made the acquaintance of Nuttalland other ornithologists and had become greatly interested in bird study which hecarried on for a time at his home near Philadelphia, b~t eagerly accepted a posi-tion as dootor and naturalist with the Topographical Engineers in 1849 to join inan expedi tion to the unexplored parts of the then Indian Terri tory. Again in 1851he became a member of an expedition to the Zuni and Oolorado Rivers. The expeditionfollowed the rivers to Yuma then went on to San Francisco, arriving there in 1852.

WOOdhouse's report of this expedition· is a valuable early account of thebirds and mammals of the west and is Woodhouse's chief claim to fame. It wasWoodhouse .no gave name to the White-throated Swift, Aeronautes saxatalis saxatalls.(Inscription Rock, New Mexico). If the name were to be given now it would have adifferent connotation and perhaps a different form. He also named the WesternMourning Dove, Zenaidura macroy.ri margineUa (Oklahoma). His name was given byBaird to the Woodhouse Ja:v, Aphelecoma cal1fornica woodhouse! (Fort Thorn, NewMexico) •

Charles Emil Bendire. 1836-1897Charles Emil Bendire, born in Germany, came to America as a boy and enlisted

in the Army in 1854 at the age of 18. Throughout his 32 years of active service hewas stationed at a succession of ar~ posts chiefly in the West and so bad an excep-tional opportuni ty to know that part of the country and to become familiar wi th itsbird life.

He was stationed first in Arizona and New Mexico and successively inLouisiana, in California at what is now San Pedro, Fort Lapwai in Idaho, Camp Lowellin Arizona, and on recruiting service at St. Louis, Camp Harney in eastern Oregon,Fort Walla Walla, Washington, Fort Klamath in Oregon and at Fort Custer in Montana.Here he won the rank of major for gallant conduct in the Indian wars and in the fol-lowing year 1886, was retired because of disability incurred in army service.

H9 began his serious stu~y of birds about 1870 while stationed at Fort Lapwaicentering his attention on nests and eggs and on birds only as rf3latsd to these. Grad-ually, however, his study widened its range and in his years of retirement, 1886-1897,he completed two volumes of a work which he had planned to be on oology but which grewin the writing to become a Life History of North American Birds.

For a year covering a half each of 1893 and 1894 he was in Washington andserved as Honorary Curator of the Department of Oology in the National Museum. He itwas who reduced the confused assortment of nests and eggs to an orderly system; he con-tributed several thousand specimens from his .own collection and made the beginning ofa ver,y large and scientifically organized Department of Oology.

The distinctive feature of his work is the great care given to geographicaldistribution of each form and to the extent of its breeding range. In this he set astandard which others have followed and few if any have surpassed.

His na.me has been given to 1) the Western Pigeon Hawk Falco colwnbariusbendirei, identified and named by Swann at Fort Walla Walla. 2) the CaliforniaScreech OWl, Otus ~ bendirei Brewster (Nicasio, California). Bendire's Thrasher,Toxostomabendirei was described and 80 named by Coues. (Tucson, Arizona) and Bandire'sCrossbill, Loxia curvirostra bendirei Ridgway. (Klamath, Oregon). Even a little in-formation about the man and his life helps to put flesh on the skeletal data of theA.O.U. Check-list.

Edgar A. Mearns, 1856-1916.Edgar A. Mearns was born near West Point, N. Y. At an early age he became

greatly interested in natural history and perhaps as the nearest related professionstudied medicine, gratuating in 1881 at the College of Physicians and Surgeons inNew York.

He was commissioned a surgeon in the army in 1883 and his first post at hisown request was at Fort Verde in Arizona, a far cry for one whose early life had beenspent in and about New York City. In conjunction with his army life in Arizona hetook maQY very long trips on horseback, traveling slowly enough to note the birds inpassing.

After a brief period spent in Minnesota he served as physician and natural-ist in the United States-Mexico International Boundary Commission, working along theboundary from E1 Paso to Sa.n Diego. While on the Commission he collected severalthousand plants of the region, collected also at Yellowstone National Park and in thePhilippines and gave all to ths National Museum. A collection of human skeletons andcrania from the Cliff dwellings at Fort Verde he gave to the Army Medical Museum.

From 1901 his travels took wid()r sweep: he first did pioneer work as natural-ist in the Philippines, stopped at Guam in 1905, returnod to Philadelphia in 1907 andsoon after as naturalist in charge of that work with the Theodore Roosevelt Expeditionto Africa. He subsequently made a second trip to 4byssinia and the east coast ofAfrica.

Few men have had more extensive opportunities for stuay as a field nat-uralist and few if any have made more extensive collections n~~bering into thethousands of specimens each carefully described and labeled. He is an outstand-ing figure among earlier ornithologists.

The Mearns birds of the Check-list belong to the period of his activityin the Southwest. They are these: Mearns' quail, Cyrtonyx montezumae mearnsiNelson. (Fort Huachuca, Arizona); Western White-winged Dove, Melopelia asiaticamearnsi Ridgway. (5 miles north of Nogales, Arizona); Mearns's Gilded Flicker,Colaptes chrysoides mearnsi Ridgw~. (~uitovaquito, Arizona). Mearns' Thrasher,Toxostoma'cinereum mearnsi (Anthony) (San quintin, Lower California). Pink-sidedJunco, Junco mearnsi Ridgway. (Fort Bridger, Wyoming). Other bi~ds were named byMearns, among them are Mearns's Woodpecker, Balanosphira formicivora aculeata(Mearns). (Squaw Peak, Central Arizona). Violet-green Swallow, Tac4ycinetathalassina lepida Mearns. (20 miles north of Campo, San Diego County, California).Anthony's Green Heron, Butorides virescens anthonyi (Mearns). (Seven Wells •..Lower California).

The three men whose work is sketched here were army men. We today areke~nly alive to the prodigious advance made in science through the impUlsion due towar. An indirect and less evident advance may be made in the field of ornithology,if history repeats itself. There are embryonic and mature students of bird life(certainly there are many surgeons) in the armed forces; among them are severalW.B.B.A. banders one of whom in a letter speaks of birds that seem to indicateAlaska. Another writer speaks of trees that can belong only in the vicini ty ofAustralia. All men with such interests will have most unusual opportunities toobserve new and strange bird, plant and animal life. We may be developing a newglobal understanding of plants and animals as well as races of men.

The above sketches are based chiefly on the files of The Auk: Woodhouse, 1905:·104-106. Bendire, 1898:1-6. Mearns, 1918:1-18. With this one incorporated birddesignations from the Ch~ck-list of the American Ornithologists' Union. A word asto the form used in this last. The part given here includes the popular designationof the bird; the scientific (Latin) name followed by the name of the man who firstdescribed it, the name in parenthesis if the genus assigned was subsequently modi_fied. Following this in parenthesis is the name of the place where the bird wasfirst described. Omitted is the name of the publication with date in which thedescription was first published, also the Range of the bird.

A FEW RESULTS FROM COLOR-BANDED BROWN TOWHEESDuring 1935, 1936 and 1937 sixty-eight Brown Towhees (Pipilo fuscus

crissalis) were banded with combinations of aluminum and colored celluloid bands.The procedure followed was to use colored bands during winter and spring but not toput them on the immature birds, which rarely stay long enough to compensate for thebookkeeping inVOlved in color-banding all of them. Immatures that stayed or re-turned were usually retrapped during the winter months and then had the coloredbands added.

We were unable to continue this work as planned but a few of the resultsobtained may be worth recording. So far, the work has done little more than estab-lish the fact that these birds hold territories and, when established in them, seemto remain in them most of the year. The fewest observations of them within theirterritories were in the late summer and early fall. The two pairs most closelywatched were together during late fall and winter in the territories where theynested in spring and summer.

In the summer of 1937 a pile of bark lodged in the crotch of one o~ ourEucalyptus trees at a height of about twenty feet was thrown down. In it was anold nest containing bones and remnants of feathers and three bird bands, one

aluminum and two colorgd celluloid. nlOSe bands were identified as those worn by oneof our resident California Towhees and the histo~r of the bird improved rather morecomplete than we can usually write when a band is handed to us.

This towhee was banded (~225,105) as an immature on June 15, 1929. On June13, 1932 its band was found to b9 worn out and it was rebandcd, (A-283,269). Thisband, in turn, was worn out and replaced on March 2, 1935 by (34-246,349) and onMarch 30, 1935 colored bands were added making the combination AB-BY, i.e. aluminumabove blue on the right leg and blue above yellow on the left. Sight identificationsof this bird were not recorded frequently until November. During that month it wasseen constantly with another color-banded towhge, YY-AR, and these two were mates thefollowing spring. They were seen together in many parts of an area approximately200 x 200 feet and in May had a nest in a low bush very close to our house, rearingsuccessfully a brood of three which they took to some heavy shrubbery some 50 feetfrom the nest site. This spot was near a drip and near the small shed where our birdseed was kept, an easy place to obtain food.

Before the young left the nest AB-BY was heard making a great fuss and in-vestigation showed her mate in a trap below her. As soon as he was released the noiseceased. A cat caused a similar outburst at another time. The male, YY-AR, was onceseen fighting another towhee that had ventured into a trap in the territory of thispair. The head of the trapped bird had been badly injured by YY-AR and was bleedingprofusely. Released, it half ran, half flew to a small shed and crept under it withYY-AR in pursuit. He did not follOW it beneath the shed which was almost on the ground.

YY-AR was in turn an intruder and entered a trap in the adjacent territoryof RA-GG and was similarly attacked by RA-GG and his mate, both fighting the trappedbird furiously and' at times confusir~ the issue and fighting eaeh other. This occurredin February.

~lese fights were much more prolonged than when the aggressor was not trapp~dand just what constitutes intrusion we do not know. These two pairs had been seeneating peaceably together many times near the boundary between their territories.

The pair AD-BY and YY-AR were seen after the young were grown and appearedto be nesting again. Suddenly we lost them. AB-BY ~as seen no more and YY-AR wasseen in a part of our yard he had not before frequented and not in his own territoryuntil the following winter. We did not know until 1937 that AD-BY had died or beenkilled on the nest, nor where the nest was. She was seven years old. We do not knowwhether YY-AR had been her mate in preceding years.

A few other notes on our towhees banded with colored bands may be of inter-est. AW-~~ was known to live and have a nest about 200 feet from our lot. This birdalone brought three young to our yard on M~y 26, 1936. They came to the very placewhere RA-GG ahd his mate fought YY-AR in February and RA-GG was there. He showed nohostility and stayed near them for some time, almost following them about. But forthe colored bands we should have regarded him as one of the parents of the young birds.

~GG is recorded as fighting another trapped bird in November and again inFebruary with the help of his mate. He is the towhee on which we made the most notes.With his mate he was repeatedly seen to go under a house near us and under a shed, insmall narrow places where a bird would not seem apt to go. His nests were placed oncewithin three feet of the sidewalk, once almost ~t our front door, and once in a bushjust over the sidewalk. One of these nests, when incubating was at an early st~e,was exposed to a rain of 2.77 inches on April 7 and 8. It was almost unsheltered butthe brood was reared successfully. This pair remained the entire winter in the sameterritory and were frequently seen together. They nested in the same part of theyard the next spring.

Harold and Josephine R. MichenerPasadena, California

A year or two ago the Wildlife Service provided a size IB band which isslightly smaller than the size lA. As the banders are becoming acquainted with thisnew size some of them are telling how it is just the size they have been needing forGambel Sparrows for which the size 1 bands have been smaller and the size lA largerthan seemed best. When these sizes are expressed in inside diameters the diff~r-ances appear to be very small but when the bands are on birds' legs there are ap-preciable differences in the way they fit. For the bands at present in the EmergereySupply the inside diameters are: size 1 - 0.0925" to 0.09611, siz3 lB - 0.117511

, andsize lA - 0.1275". Since it is the differences in diameters of the various sizes ofbands that are of interest to the bander, these figures give accurate informational though, because of the me thod of measurement, they may not agree exactly 'iith thediameters specified by the Wildlife Service.

Mr. George Willett, writing on December 8, 1943, makes the following con-tribution. "In regard to the note on the opossum in last tasue of "Newsll, (October1943): Mr. Cleary's Pasadena records do not go back far enough by several years.The presence of this animal along the San Gabriel River bottom as early as 1906 wasreported by Little (California Fish &; Garno),2:46, 1916). Also, I remember thatopossums had been digging in the lawn of the late Donald Dick!}y, in Pasad8na, about1911, and according to J. S. ApplBton, th~y were present in Ventura County someyears previous to the latter date. Have heard several rumors regarding the means ofthe opossums' introduction, but doubt that any of them can be verified. II

This is the kind of information we hoped to get by leading off with thestory as told to Mr. Cleary.

Before the next issue of the News 'the annual report of the birds bandedin the year 1943 will be due. The forms will be sent out, we trust, immediatelyafter the holidays with the request that they be filled out and returned by Februaryfirst at the latest, for the ~~mmarized report should be in the March issue of theNews and that should go to press March first. It is important to have theAssociation's report as complete as possible. Also it greatly facilitates the workof compilation if all the individual reports can be at hand when the work begins.

And again we urge that in making out your report you follow the A.O.U.Check-list order or follow the order of the annual report as published in the Newseach year usually in the March number, or the order given in any handbook thoughsome orders of birds will not appear there. At the very least, group the birds byfamilies, for example put all the warblers together, all the sparrows likewise.

Another matter, do not wait to be asked but send at any time a journal-istic story of some event or incident growing out of your observation of birds andtheir ways or the results of any careful study.

NEWS FROM THE BIRD BAJ.'JDERSWestern Bird-Banding Ass1n

Mailed from418 North Hudson AvenuePasadena (4), California

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We have no traps for sale now but expect to have them again after thewar has been won.

For ~~RGENCY SUPPLY OF BANDS andinformation in regard to banded birds found, address

Mr. Harold Michener, 418 No. Hudson Avenue, Pasadena 4, California

For ~~MBERSHIP AND DUES addressMrs. N. Edward k;{er, Business Manager, 1300 Hillcr'9st Drive, Pomona, California

W.B.B.A. and CooperOrnithological Club

Associate . . $1.00 · • · · · · · · . $ 3.50Active . . • . · • 1.00 · · · · 3.50Sustaining . . . . . . • . . . • • 5.00 · · · · · · · · . . . 7.50Life (Total, not yearly) . . . • · 50.00 · · · · · • · 125.00

Members outside the United States add. tw~nty-five cents to the firstthree items of the last column fOr addHional postage on The Condor.

Members are urged to subscribe to the quarterly journal Bird-BanJdng •published by the Northeastern, E.astern and Inland Bird-B.anding Associations. This .annual subscription, normally $2.50, can be had by members for $2.00 in additionto any of the above-stated dues. .

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