p 
     
    
   
   
    
     more than 500 cards on file for Tree Swallow, Starling, Red-winged Blackbird, Song 
     
     ’ Sparrow, Black Duck, and Osprey, and over 200 cards for 19 other species. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The M.N.R.S. is coordinated by the Canadian Wildlife Service, but relies on voluntee 
     
     cooperators for the nesting records. Cooperators record their nest observations on 
     
     b" x 6" printed cards supplied by the Canadian Wildlife Service. Those cards are 
     
     submitted to the Scheme's repository at the end of the nesting season, and an annual 
     
     report on the Scheme's holdings is prepared and sent out to all cooperators. In 
     
     addition to receiving cards from naturalists, the repository annually receives a 
     
     large number of cards from wildlife biologists and technicians who in the course of 
     
     their field duties record nesting information on birds. Also, the Scheme often 
     
     serves as a repository for field data collected by researchers studying the breed- 
     
     ing biology of a particular bird species. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Over the years members of the P.E.I. Natural History Society have contributed to the 
     
     success of the M.N.R.S.. The M.N.R.S. repository now contains 2&93 cards on file 
     
     for 96 species of birds from Prince Edward Island ( see Table 1). In 1979 eight 
     
     cooperators submitted a total of 72 cards for P.E.I. (see Table 2), down signific— 
     
     antly from the 219 and 272 cards sent in during the previous two years (see Table 
     
    
   
   
    
     3). 
     
    
   
   
    
     The aim of the M.N.R.S. is to provide a permanent repository for bird nesting data 
     
     in the Maritimes, and to make it available to all researchers studying the 
     
     breeding biology of birds. Cards are normally loaned out for a three week 
     
     period and cards for rare or threatened species may in some cases not be 
     
     released without special clearance due to a possible threat to these 
     
     birds if their nest locations are widely known. On the average, seven 
     
     . to ten researchers have annually borrowed cards from the Scheme. 
     
     .While use of the Scheme has not been extensive, the data bank has 
     
     made significant contributions to several research studies, and has 
     
     been most useful in planning numerous other projects. As the data 
     
     bank accumulates more cards, it will become 
     
     increasingly more attractive 
     
     to researchers studying 
     
     nesting success. Generally 
     
     at least 500 cards of a 
     
     species are needed from 
     
     any one region in orde 
     
     to allow comparison with 
     
     Other sub-samples. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Through the efforts c 
     
     dedicated individuals the 
     
     M.N.R.S. repository ex- 
     
     pands its holdings each 
     
    

    
     year by approximately 6%. 
     
     The Scheme encourages people 
     
     to look at birds and t 
     
     nests with care and judg - 
     
     ment. That activity stim- 
     
     ulates an awareness and 
     
     understanding of our wild— 
     
     life heritage, and through 
     
     the standardized recordin 
     
     of their observations a 
     
     significant contribution is 
     
     made to a scientific data 
     
     repository.