The migrations of birds were probably among the first natural phenomena to attract the attention and intrigue the imagination of man. Recorded observations on the subject date back nearly 3,000 years, to the times of Hesiod, Homer, Herodotus, Aristotle, and others. In the Bible there are several references to the periodic movements of birds, as in the Book of Job (39:26), where the inquiry is made: "Doth the hawk fly by Thy wisdom and stretch her wings toward the south?" Jeremiah (8:7), wrote: "The stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed time; and the turtle [dove], and the crane, and the swallow, observe the time of their coming." And the flight of quail that saved the Israelites from starvation in their wanderings in the wilderness of Sinai is now recognized as a vast movement of migratory quail between their breeding grounds and their winter home in Africa. Throughout the ages the return flights of migratory birds have been important as a source of food after a lean winter and as the harbinger of a change in season. The arrival of certain species has been heralded with appropriate ceremonies in many lands, and among the Eskimos and other tribes the phenomenon to this day is the accepted sign of the imminence of spring and of warmer weather. The pioneer fur traders in Alaska and Canada offered rewards to the Indian or Eskimo who saw the first goose of the spring, and all joined in jubilant welcome to the newcomer. As the North American Continent became more thickly settled, the large flocks of ducks and geese that always had been hunted for food became objects of the enthusiastic attention of an increasing army of sportsmen. Most of the nongame species were found to be valuable also as allies of the farmer in his never-ending warfare against weed and insect pests. The need for laws protecting the valuable game and nongame birds and for regulating the hunting of the diminishing game species followed as a natural course. In the management of this wildlife resource it has become obvious that continuous studies must be made of the food habits of the various species, their environmental needs, and their travels. Hence bird investigations are made by the Fish and Wildlife Service, the bureau charged by Congress under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act with the duty of protecting those species that in their yearly journeys pass back and forth between the United States and Canada, and between the United States and Mexico.