a finger for a crop gathering auger of a grain header for an agricultural combine , including a tether which spans a failure region of the finger and will retain a free end of the finger in connection with a mounting end thereof when the failure region is broken , and which is preferably additionally operable for automatically retracting the broken off free end into an auger drum and retaining it therein during subsequent rotation of the drum for limiting potential damage from the broken end and preventing entry of the broken end into crop handling equipment of the combine .