66 LAMPRONESSA SPONSA 



very scarcity of the species is now, in itself, a factor toward its inability to gain in 

 numbers. There are certain areas in eastern Maine, such as Crawford Lake, Machias 

 River, where Carolina Ducks are still common birds. Some of the areas of that 

 State which have been flooded by recent lumber operations hold goodly numbers. 

 Possibly they are increasing a little there. William Brewster (1924) found that in 

 the Umbagog region of Maine they held out well until about 1900, long after the 

 Hooded Merganser had all but gone as a breeding bird. 



Fortunately there are still vast areas in the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, and the 

 Gulf States, where this duck is resident and fairly common. This I know from my 

 own experience, as well as from the testimony of local authorities, and so long as 

 large timbered swamps remain, the species will continue to exist locally in consid- 

 erable numbers. M. L. Alexander (1918) estimated that in the winter of 1913-14 

 eight hundred and fifty Carolina Ducks were marketed in New Orleans. In 1915-16 

 four hundred and ninety-two were marketed, and since then, because of the Federal 

 Law, none have been sold. That part of the species which constituted the northern 

 migrants has been more reduced than the southern stock. In Cuba, I am told by 

 Dr. T. Barbour, the drainage of swamp areas is proceeding at such a rate as to en- 

 danger the species there. 



This duck is still common in the heavy swamps of eastern Arkansas (Howell, 

 1911), and Widmann (1907) states that in September flocks of seventy-five to a 

 hundred may still be seen on the peninsula of the Missouri. Cory (1909) speaks of 

 it as still a common summer resident in parts of Illinois and Wisconsin, but decreas- 

 ing in numbers. Barrows (1912) gives a very discouraging outlook for Michigan, 

 but in Minnesota the diminution apparently did not set in until after the early 

 nineties (Hatch, 1892). In western New York, where spring shooting was prohibited 

 as early as 1902, the species was said by Eaton (1910) to be holding its own in spite 

 of the tremendous slaughter in the autumn. It was almost exterminated in Pennsyl- 

 vania and New Jersey, where probably only a very few breed in select localities 

 (Harlow, 1918). The Macouns (1909) considered it a common summer resident in 

 the lake region of Ontario and think it may be abundant in northwestern Ontario. 



In western Canada the Carolina Duck is reported as still locally abundant in 

 British Columbia on the lower Fraser wherever suitable breeding conditions exist. 

 It is bound to disappear from the eastern areas where the timber is being cut away 

 and the woodland ponds are drying up (A. Brooks, 1918). W. L. Dawson and 

 Bowles (1909) considered it still fairly common on the lower Columbia River. Grin- 

 nell, Bryant, and Storer (1918) in their recent exhaustive account of California 

 game-birds, consider the Carolina Duck, though formerly common, now "nearly 

 extinct" in that State. Since then it has shown a decided tendency to increase 

 (Dixon, 1924; and others). 



It is very evident to any one who comes in contact with sportsmen and sports- 



