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Vogt's Letter to leopold 1-10-40
The contract is being renewed for two years. I am especially
pleased because the year just past has been-as a matter of fact, still is-
very abnormal. I shall probably do a paper on it for the Pan-American
Scientific Congress in May, so I won't go into it now. Two years more will
give a much better appreciation of the first year-and an opportunity to
do a real job.
I am having my academic record sent to you, though I'm afraid it won't
help much. Too strong an emphasis on liberal arts.
My Ph.D. thesis should be devoted to my work here. It is making me more
and more skeptical concerning much of the ornithological credo-flock
organisation, dominance, colonial territories, etc.-and I shall certainly
want to make part of my final report a critical consideration of some of the
ornithological literature.
My work here is an ecological and behavior study of the birds--really an
ecological study, giving behavior the place it should have in such research.
I am going back to the geology, pre-history, history and early climatology
of the coast, so far as possible. to understand the environment that, through
selection, shaped the birds to what they are. Present observations are based,
so far as possible, on the study of individual birds--though to follow an
individual through more than one season would be almost incredible luck.
Where I can. I am using experimental methods. This year we mark (if all goes
well) more than 60,000 birds with metal bands, 6,000-plus with colored bands.
We have made airplane maps of 43 islands to show the distribution of flocks
and their size; this, correlated with sample scunts on the ground, will give
us a good idea of numbers. The (banding) and photographing I hope to repeat
two more year. The ringing is practically certain. I continue to do post-
mortems, with the assurance of having the material worked up. On the islands,
I an trying to work out census methods for all forms, construct accurate
food-predator-competitor-cooperator-and parasite chains. Meteorological
observations that seem to have a bearing on the ecology are being made. The
whole study is being documented with photos, made with movies.
Proposal g Leopold: That Vogt be invited to do his graduate work here, and
that all possible encouragement to that end be extended.
The University Press might ultimately be interested in his book on
the Guano birds. In any case, this is one of the unique ecological under-
takings of the decade, and would, I think, stimulate local effort.
Aldo Leopold
1-20-40