Register All the Bands You Receive
Register All the Bands You Receive
The importance of a western register of all bands issued to western banders is becoming increasingly apparent. Such a register is maintained by Harlan H. Edwards, 2311 N. Allen Ave., Altadena, California, but can only be complete with the coaperation of each bander. When a supply of bands is received, a card should be immediately mailed to Edwards listing the serial number by sizes. Let the first list sent in include all bands so far received, aqd promptly advise when any new sets are received.
A case in point: On March 3 and 31, 1926, Mr. Ernest G. Osborne, at Claremont, California, captured Gambel Sparrows which had bands nos. 151716, 161761, 151789. When reported to Washington word came back that 161716 had been issued to New Mexico, 151761 to Texas and used on a Cardinal, and 161789 to Georgia. Osborne was not convinced and a later advice stated that all three bands were issued to New Mexico, adding that Osborne's report, therefore, “does not appear to be correct” - a conclusion not necessarily conclusive.
Obviously, a bander may make a mistake in reading a band number, but it is safe to say that he does not read all the figures of a number wrongly, nor make three errors which would record bands in a single series only a few numbers apart. The western maintained record of all bands received will quickly straighten out such tangles, and will serve as a check against errors which may slip into the Biological Survey records where such quantities of number records have to be taken care of. By means of the western register, too, a bander who inquires can be put in early touch with the bander at the other end of the line, when a strange band turns up.
If Mr. Edwards is willing to give his time to keeping the whole record, and to answering queries that arise, we banders cannot well fail to do our little part by reporting to him promptly all bands we receive.
