•  
  •  
 

Notes and News

The Condor

Online Full Text

NOTES AND NEWS

Vol. 55 The Board of Directors of the Coope; Ornithological Society took action to vacate the annual scientific meeting of the Society in 1953 in view of the meeting of the American Ornithologists’ Union in Los Angeles in late October of this year. Instead the Cooper Society will have a half-day program of papers in connection with the meeting of the Paciiic Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Santa Barbara, California, on June 20, 1953. The annual business meeting of the Cooper Society will be held at the time of the April meeting of the Southern Division.

The bird-banding office of the Fish and Wildlife Service recently has issued a directive restricting, except by special dispensation, the placement of colored bands or other special markers on migratory birds as well as limiting the way in which a person captures birds for marking. The importance of colored banding in addition to numbered banding is very great, and this procedure as well as others mentioned in the directive, as research tools, seem unduly subjected to control by the new regulations of this government agency. What worries many of us is that research devices and innovations seem to require advance clearance by a government official. We like to see ingenuity and originality in research given full freedom. The situation is, however, neither as simple nor as restrictive as it might at first seem. As Mr. Seth H. Low of the Fish and Wildlife Service has explained to us, real confusion has arisen from indiscriminate use of markers on species being studied by many persons. Perhaps the Service has gone too far in establishing a general limitation to correct a few specific trouble spots. But it is important to announce that the attit.ude of Mr. Low and his group is one of readiness to receive and act understandingly on requests for special provisions of banding permits to liberalize procedures for individual workers. This channel of appeal should be freely used as need arises.-ALDEN H. MILLE

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS