TRAVELS AND TRADITIONS OF WATERFOWL 



with an aspect of migration seldom enough touched upon — the matter of 

 tradition. In this respect he has made as definite a contribution to the litera- 

 ture as he did with his Canvasback, and is doubtless destined to modify 

 present modes of thinking on numerous aspects of bird migration. 



Mr. Hochbaum has had opportunities that come to few people to collect 

 the material he now presents to his readers. For sixteen years he has resided 

 at Delta, Manitoba, on the south shore of Lake Manitoba, on one of the 

 most celebrated wildfowl marshes of the province. Here he has canoed, 

 photographed, hunted, and ruminated, in an environment which, although 

 static in its main features, is perpetually undergoing change. He has seen 

 his marsh almost dried out, as in the forties, and virtually flooded out, as 

 in 1954. He has watched the resident populations rise and fall, flourish and 

 fail. As Director of the Research Station, he has organized and conducted 

 pertinent investigations into the field to which he has devoted his life. This 

 station, sponsored by the North American Wildlife Foundation and the 

 Wildlife Management Institute, and operating in an atmosphere of com- 

 plete academic freedom, untrammeled by Government restrictions and 

 red tape, moreover has won for itself a reputation that has attracted many 

 ornithological celebrities, each of whom has left some constructive contribu- 

 tion behind him. We shall again be grateful that fate has placed so able 

 an observer in such a favorable setting, the fruits of which we can now 

 ourselves enjoy. 



To close without a reference to the excellent illustrations which accom- 

 pany the text would be to do Mr. Hochbaum an injustice. It has been my 

 privilege to be associated with the Delta station for many years. During 

 intermittent visits I have seen the marsh in its varying moods. I can only 

 say that our author-artist has caught the spirit of the birds and their en- 

 vironment as successfully in his drawings as in his writing. 



William Rowan 

 Department of Zoology 

 University of Alberta 



