12 NORTH AMERICAN DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS. 



sport and for the table. The future supply must come from isolated 

 pairs and small colonies scattered in favorable localities over Canada 

 and the northern quarter of the United States. Fortunately, such 

 favorable places exist and will continue to exist for many years. 



An important question in connection with the protection of ducks 

 is the time when they pair for the breeding season, since it is evident 

 that if shooting is continued after the birds are paired a decided 

 decrease in the number of broods will result. While the present state 

 of knowledge does not warrant positive statements as to the exact date 

 of pairing of each species, enough has been learned to show that in the 

 case of many species pairing occurs before the breeding grounds are 

 reached. Many if not most of the mallards and shovelers that pass 

 through Illinois on their way to more northern breeding grounds are 

 paired before they leave that State, and the same is true of these 

 species in Iowa. Many black ducks, wood ducks, and teal are paired 

 in the spring by the time they reach Massachusetts. The following 

 letter from Hon. John E. Thayer is of interest in this connection: 



I am absolutely positive that mallards, black ducks, gadwalls, widgeons, green- 

 winged and blue-winged teal, shovelers, and pintails begin mating at Currituck 

 Sound, North Carolina, by February 15. By the 1st of March they are mated. 

 The law should protect them then, for if one is shot, the other will keep flying about 

 until within easy range. There is not a shadow of doubt that the ducks I have 

 named are mated before they migrate, and if we do not want to exterminate them, 

 laws should protect them from the time they leave the South. 



Above have been outlined the causes, past and present, of the great 

 diminution in the numbers of the ducks. The practical problem of 

 to-day is the present and future preservation of the remnant. It goes 

 without saying that all ducks should be protected during the breeding 

 season. Notes in the following pages under the different species show 

 the dates at which the earliest eggs have been found, and from these 

 dates it is easy to determine the beginning of the breeding season. 

 The wood duck, in northern Florida, begins nesting by the middle 

 of February and the black duck, in Massachusetts, by April 20. It 

 follows, therefore, that at the very latest these ducks should not be 

 disturbed in Florida after February nor in Massachusetts after Api'il 1. 

 These dates apply to corresponding latitudes in the Mississippi Valley, 

 and the 1st of May would be the latest date for Minnesota and North 

 Dakota. On the Pacific slope the corresponding nesting dates are 

 from late March in southern California to late April in the State of 

 Washington. 



Protection during the breeding season is the least that any friend of 

 the ducks would advise. The present rapid diminution in the number 

 of waterfowl can not be stayed, however, by such partial measures. 

 Nothing short of the absolute prohibition of spring shooting in every 

 part of the country should be advocated by those who believe that 

 duck shooting should be enjoyed by future generations. 



