!92o J Hollister, Abundance of Wild Ducks. 367 



Along the British Columbia coast for about two weeks in 

 October there is a constant succession of flocks of females and 

 young of this and the preceding species, the Inumbers that pass 

 must be incalculable. 



There is no reliable record of its breeding in the Province, 

 although I have seen them vigorously courting in central British 

 Columbia, well along in June; three or four males whirling about 

 a female on the water like whirling beetles, and uttering a curious 

 low, liquid note, like water dropping in a cavern. Large num- 

 bers of both this and the White-winged Scoter die from parasitic 

 diseases (intestinal), but nothing to the thousands that are killed 

 through contact with floating patches of crude oil at sea. 



Okanagan Landing, B. C. 



RELATIVE ABUNDANCE OF WILD DUCKS AT 

 DELAVAN, WISCONSIN. 



BY N. HOLLISTER. 



Recently, in looking over some old ducking records kept by 

 myself and companions at Delavan, Wisconsin, it occurred to 

 me that certain parts of these records are well worthy of per- 

 manent preservation. They furnish fairly accurate data on the 

 relative abundance of many species of wild ducks at that time 

 and may serve for important and instructive comparisons with 

 similar figures which may be kept at some future period. It is 

 evident that there has been a considerable change in the relative 

 abundance of various species during the past twenty-five years, 

 and it would be very interesting indeed if we had comparable 

 records for the same region for still earlier times. 



From the fall of 1892 until the fall of 1899, inclusive, we occu- 

 pied a cottage at Delavan Lake each autumn and spring for a 

 week or two of duck shooting. In a book provided for the pur- 

 pose, complete records were kept of every game bird brought 

 into this cottage. All of the shooting was over decoys in open 



