pair was 1.6 young raised to the downy ducklang 

 stage. 



Comparison of duck production. — Data ob- 

 tained in 1962 permit comparison, on a sample 

 basis, of duck production for tluee important con- 

 tinental nesting areas — the Yellowloiife-Great 

 Slave Lake in tlie Northwest Territories, the aspen- 

 prairie parklands to the south and east, and the 

 pothole country of the Dakotas. Investigations 

 were initiated in tlie first- and last-named regions 

 only 2 years ago, but production studies on the 

 parkland samples go back to 1D52. 



In 1962, broods per square mile for the samples 

 representing these regions were: Yellowknife, 

 12.2; the parklands (two areas) — Redvers, 6.2, 

 Lousana, 14.9: and the average for three areas in 

 North Dakota, 39.0. Peak production on Redvers 

 was 121.2 broods in 1952, and for I^ousana, 49.8 

 broods in 1958. Reduction in nesting habitat on 

 these two areas, due to extreme drought was the 

 reason for the very low production in 1962. 



Goose production in Flathead Valley. — The 

 Montana Unit, completing an 8-year study of 

 Canada goose productivity and factors affecting 

 its reproduction in the Flatliead Valley of Mon- 

 tana, reported a population average of 815 during 

 the 8-year period, over half of which were non- 

 breeding geese. A total of 1,609 nests were lo- 

 cated, indicating that an average of 2.8 young per 

 breeding pair reached the flying stage and, theo- 

 retically, a harvestable age. 



The population reached a peak of 285 nesting 

 pairs in 1955, dropped sharply to 154 in 1956, and 

 showed slow recovery during the next 4 years. 

 There were 172 pairs in 1960. Heavy hunting 

 pressure was largely responsible for the decline, 

 and restrictive hunting regulations were effective 

 in bringing about the slow recovery. Oidy 10 per- 

 cent of a tlieoretical population of 1,000 birds at- 

 tained breeding age and survived to nest during a 

 population-turnover period of 6 years. 



Indispensable product, young of the year. (Photo by Ray C. Erickson) 



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