THE WATERFOWL FLYWAYS OF NORTH AMERICA 5 



It will thus be seen that the Atlantic flyway is a complicated sys- 

 tem of migration routes, which helps to explain why hunters of the 

 Atlantic coastal region enjoy so much more favorable gunning condi- 

 tions than do the sportsmen of the West. Because of these facts 

 there is great danger in attempts to influence legislation or regulation 

 in favor of the Atlantic-coast sportsmen, which would result in a 

 greater slaughter and soon reduce the birds of this flyway to the 

 deplorably low numbers now existing in the Central and Pacific 

 flyways. 



THE MISSISSIPPI FLYWAY 



In some respects the Mississippi flyway (fig. 2) is relatively simple, 

 although it has at least one complicating feature. Its eastern bound- 

 ary runs through southern Ontario to western Lake Erie, thence 

 across Ohio and Indiana to the Mississippi Valley, where it closely 

 follows the river to its mouth. This line is clearly defined. The west- 

 ern boundary, however, does not permit such precise definition, for 

 the reason that in eastern Nebraska and western Missouri and 

 Arkansas, it merges imperceptibly into the Central flyway. Never- 

 theless, a boundary line may be drawn with reasonable accuracy from 

 southern Saskatchewan, across northeastern Montana, thence south- 

 eastward along the Missouri River to western Missouri and across 

 western Arkansas and northwestern Louisiana to southeastern Texas. 



Easily the most important migration route of this flyway is the 

 long lane of travel that starts on the Yukon Flats in Alaska, traverses 

 the valley of the Mackenzie River, and the great lake and prairie 

 region of central Canada, receiving many accretions on the way, 

 and in turn contributing to other flyways. Running generally from 

 northwest to southeast, it enters the L T nited States on a broad front 

 from Montana to Wisconsin but tends to constriction as it proceeds 

 southward, so that in central Arkansas it results in heavy concentra- 

 tion. This might be termed the i; mallard route " {Anas platy- 

 rhynchos) , although it is used also by large numbers of pintails 

 and Canada geese and by lesser numbers of several other shoal- 

 water species. The ring-necked duck likewise concentrates on this 

 route, as do some of the lesser scaups (Nyroca affinis) and a few other 

 deep-water ducks. Coming in from their breeding grounds in west- 

 ern Ontario and Michigan and from Wisconsin and Minnesota, a 

 considerable body of black ducks proceeds across Illinois by way of 

 the Illinois River. Another contingent of this species, together with 

 a good representation of Canada geese, comes in from the northeast. 

 These latter birds, from breeding grounds in western Quebec and 

 Ontario and from Michigan, leave their companions bound for the 

 Atlantic coast in the general vicinity of western Lake Erie, and, 

 proceeding across northwestern Ohio and through Indiana, . reach 

 the Mississippi Valley near the mouth of the Ohio River. 



The features of particular significance in this flyway are the 

 vast areas of breeding territory that are tributary to it and the 

 greatly restricted winter quarters. These factors result in a heavy 

 concentration during winter, and are conducive to erroneous conclu- 

 sions relative to abundance and to excessive slaughter. 



