RINGED BIRDS.
Some bird-lovers arc beginning to grow nervous about the popular habit of ringing nestling birds in order to discover their migratory movements. It may be said in general that the bigger the bird the greater the percentage of dis- covered rings. Perhaps the best example comes front Germany, not Britain. The German ringers have mapped out the routes of the storks with great precision thanks to the return of rings from both Africa and Asia. It was, of course, certain a priori that the dead body of the big bird would attract more notice than the small. A thousand warblers would be less noticeable than one stork. Neverthe- less, when all allowance is made curiously few returns are chronicled of some of the smaller and weaker birds ; and the suggestion is that the ringing may be just enough handicap to prevent them reaching their proper home, that MHO of the ringed birds than others fall into the sea. It may be worth the notice of those who practise this scientific form of observation that a metal nearly forty per cent, lighter than aluminium has recently been produced. A very small difference of weight may make all the difference to the bird.
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