244 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Reports embodying the results of these investigations are nearly 

 ready for publication. An investigation of the breeding and distri- 

 bution of waterfowl in North and South Carolina and Georgia was 

 made in the summer of 1915. Field investigations on the abundance 

 and distribution of waterfowl in their winter homes were carried 

 on in Alabama in the autumn of 1915 and an investigation of the 

 distribution of breeding waterfowl of North Dakota was begun early 

 in the summer of 1916. 



STUDIES OF ELK IN YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 



In cooperation with the Forest Service, an investigation of the 

 condition of the elk herds in the region of Yellowstone National 

 Park was instituted for the purpose of providing for their future 

 welfare. The summer and winter ranges in that region were exam- 

 ined in order to ascertain the areas necessary to be reserved for the 

 use of the animals. Early in the spring of 1916 a cooperative count 

 of the elk of that region was made, which showed that the south- 

 ern herd contained about the same number as had been previously 

 reported (approximately 18,000). The northern herd is shown to 

 contain only about a third of the number it was supposed to hold. 

 This investigation is important, since the increased occupation of 

 the western ranges by cattle and sheep renders it imperative that 

 if the game herds are to be preserved provision for their protection 

 be made in advance. The majority of all the elk left in the United 

 States are concentrated in and about Yellowstone National Park and 

 this reservoir for restocking other areas is too important to be 

 neglected. 



TECHNICAL INVESTIGATIONS. 



A large number of specimens of birds and mammals were identified 

 at the request of State and other institutions and of individuals. 

 Technical revisions of the American moles, the pocket gophers, and 

 the prairie-dogs were published as North American Faunas, and 

 revisions of the flying squirrels, rice rats, and grizzly and big brown 

 bears were prepared for publication. These studies involved the 

 examination and identification of large numbers of specimens, includ- 

 ing, in addition to the collections of the Biological Survey and the 

 United States National Museum, much additional material borrowed 

 from other museums. 



Besides the technical studies of mammals prepared for publication, 

 many data of this character are embodied in manuscript maps illus- 

 trating the distribution of mammals. These show in graphic form 

 the area inhabited by practically every species of North American 

 mammal. Much work in correcting and amplifying these maps has 

 been accomplished during the year. 



GAME PRESERVATION. 



RESERVATIONS. 



The Biological Survey is charged with the maintenance of 72 

 reservations, 5 of which are big-game preserves and 67 bird reserva- 

 tions. The mammal reservations include the Montana Bison Range, 

 the Wind Cave Game Preserve in South Dakota, the Niobrara Reser- 



