178 1WR0CA AMERICANA 



almost wiped out as a breeding bird, Oberholser (1920) records it as greatly increas- 

 ing in recent years. In the center of its abundance in summer, in North Dakota and 

 southwestern Saskatchewan, it about equals the Canvas-back and the Ruddy Duck 

 in numbers, but when one reaches the Athabasca delta, it becomes a rare breeder. 

 Mr. Francis Harper (MS.) saw only twelve there in June, 1920. Even in eastern 

 Oregon (Lake Malheur) as many as five hundred pairs have been reported as nesting 

 (U.S. Biological Survey records) ! 



Major Allan Brooks (in litt.) seems to think that the species has been increasing in 

 British Columbia during the past twenty-five years, until now it is the commonest 

 duck at Okanagan Lake. In Wisconsin, Hollister considered it greatly reduced 

 by 1903 (Kumlien and Hollister, 1903), and at Delavan Lake it represented only 

 2.51% of all the ducks he shot there from 1892 to 1899, the Canvas-back being 

 slightly more numerous (Hollister, 1920). The returns from licensed hunters in 

 Minnesota in 1920-21 indicate that the Red-head slightly outnumbers the Canvas- 

 back, averaging about 60,000 out of a total of well over a million ducks, or around 

 6%. These last figures are very crude estimates. 



To sum up, we see that this duck took a very decided drop in numbers during the 

 last half of the twentieth century; in the East the decrease began even earlier. There 

 is evidence of a satisfactory gain in numbers since 1913, when the Federal Law went 

 into effect. The closing of the large markets of the East between 1911 and 1918 was 

 one of the most important gains, for Red-head and Canvas-back were the mainstay 

 of the professional gunner. 



Enemies. No doubt the most serious enemy of the ducks in the prairie region 

 to-day is the Common Crow, which has greatly increased under the new conditions 

 brought about by agriculture. I have received very alarming reports on this subject 

 from Mr. Wolfe of Edmonton. In the season of 1922 he calculated that 125 ducks' 

 eggs were destroyed by Crows at one lake, to his own certain knowledge. Farther 

 south Magpies are probably more serious egg-stealers, and in some places such as 

 Bear River, Utah, they constitute the worst bird pest. No doubt bounties will have 

 to be offered to reduce the numbers of these "winged vermin." Red-head nests may 

 not be so exposed to the attacks of coyotes, foxes and other mammals, as are those 

 of the ducks which nest on dry land or at the edge of water. The location of many 

 of the nests over water or treacherous mud ought to prove some protection against 

 coyotes, but I know of no investigations on this point. The ducklings, and the old 

 birds too, are exposed to the same enemies that have been enumerated under the 

 Mallard. I have seen the Bald Eagle chase and finally kill apparently healthy 

 Red-heads. 



Red-head, and more often the Greater Scaup, are taken by accident in some num- 

 bers in gill -nets set for shad on the west shore of Pamlico Sound, North Carolina, so 



