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 
