APPENDIX 163 



In the interior the breeding range extends regularly 

 south to latitude 41° and a few breed south to southern 

 Indiana, southern Illinois, central Missouri and southern 

 Kansas. The breeding range bends south in the Rocky 

 Mountains to southern New Mexico and on the Pacific 

 coast to Lower California (San Pedro Martir Moun- 

 tains.) 



The breeding range extends north to Fort Churchill, to 

 the Arctic coast in the Mackenzie Valley and to Kotzebue 

 Sound and the Fur Seal Islands in Alaska. 



The mallard is one of the earliest birds to breed. The 

 nesting season extends from early April in southern Cali- 

 fornia and the first week of May in northern Indiana, to 

 early June in the Mackenzie Valley and the Yukon Delta, 

 and the last week of June in Greenland. 



It is one of the common ducks of the Old World, breed- 

 ing in the Northern Hemisphere and ranging south in 

 winter to central Africa and southern Asia. 



Winter Range. — The mallard is a fresh water duck, 

 and in general it winters as far north as open fresh water 

 is found. The greater number spend the winter in the 

 southern half of the Mississippi Valley, and for many 

 years this was the source of a large part of the market 

 supply. The numbers killed were almost incredible. Big 

 Lake, Arkansas, was and still is one of the favorite re- 

 sorts, and during the winter of 1893-94 a single gunner 

 sold 8,000 mallards, while the total number sent to mar- 

 ket from this one place amounted to 120,000. Fortu- 

 nately both Arkansas and Missouri now forbid market 

 shooting, and this deplorable slaughter has been de- 

 cidedly lessened.* 



*Tbe Biological Survey now favors the sale of game by breeders. 



