276 FEATHERED GAME 



it occasionally breeds in the United States, but 

 mostly to the northward, though the rice-grown 

 lakes and swamps of some of our north-western 

 States are fairly well populated with them in 

 the nesting season. The principal breeding 

 ground lies in Canada in the Saskatchewan 

 country. The absence of breeding Mallards 

 on our continent eastward of Hudson Bay and 

 their common occurrence in Greenland opens 

 up a field for investigation. The bird life of 

 Greenland includes many Old World species. 

 Aside from the stray representatives of the 

 European form there is in Greenland a distinct 

 resident race of Mallards. It is hardly credible 

 that the American race would cross hundreds 

 of miles of equally good breeding territory on 

 the mainland to nest in Greenland. Again, is 

 it not possible that the comparatively few Mal- 

 lards which find their way to northern New 

 England, especially in the winter months, may 

 be from the shores of Greenland, and so, per- 

 haps, of the Greenland race rather than our 

 own western form? The cold weather as a rule 

 finds them comfortably settled in the lagoons 

 and bayous of the South Atlantic and Gulf 

 States, where they may laugh at winter's 



