Central and Mississippi Flyways 



George B* Saunders, the biologist of the Central Flysay, spent the 

 simmer months in a study of waterfowl conditions in Saskatchewan and 

 Alberta* Operations were carried on by the use of an automobile as far 

 north as the central part of these Provinces and were then extended by 

 the use of an airplane northward from there to Frobisher Lake in Sas- 

 katchewan and to Lake Athabaska in Alberta* 



Charles E. Gillham, the biologist of the Mississippi Flyway, again 

 devoted the season to a study of nesting on the breeding grounds of the 

 far North* In order to be there as soon as possible after the ice went 

 out, he traveled by airplane from Edmonton, Alberta* to the Eskimo vil- 

 lage of Aklavik in the delta of the Maokenzie River, which he reached on 

 June 8* With outboard motor and canoe, he worked northward to the coast, 

 traversing with this small outfit more than 1,200 miles of winding streams 

 where the great Maokenzie fans out into the Arctic Ocean* On this trip he 

 inspected a countless number of flats and islands, mostly without names, 

 and again made an attempt to reach the Perry River region on the south 

 shore of the Queen Maude Sea* Because of adverse weather conditions and 

 the death of the pilot engaged ';o make the flight, Gillham finally had to 

 abandon the plan after he had worked eastward as far as C o pp ermi ne on 

 Coronation Gulf* A great unknown waterfowl-breeding ground probably ex- 

 ists in the vicinity of the Perry River, but the difficulties of adequate 

 investigation of this area are almost insurmountable* Transportation by 

 air there is essential but, beoaase of the severity of Arotio storms, 

 flights are frequently Impossible* 



After his attempt to reaoh Perry River, Gillham returned to Fort 

 Chipewyan on Lake Athabaska where he spent a month' investigating the 

 status of the duoks and geese of this well-known breeding area* His 

 work here was connected with studies made by Saunders* Thus, the great 

 interior breeding grounds in Canada were covered from the border of the 

 United States to the Arotio coast* 



In the agricultural sections of Alberta and Saskatchewan a distinct 

 improvement was found in the water supply, with consequent increase in 

 production of duoks* Of 17 districts surveyed in Alberta, IS showed an 

 increase and 4 a decrease in the number of birds; while of 9 districts 

 studied in Saskatchewan, 6 carried more ducks, 2 had less, and 1 showed 

 no change in status* In some instances the percentage of increase was 

 very low and some of the decreases were conspicuous, but in summarizing 

 results for the entire region oovered, Saunders ooncluded that an in- 

 crease in the fall flight was a justifiable expectation* 



The development of 8,494 small water areas in the Provinces of Mani- 

 toba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, under a program sponsored by the Domin- 

 ion Government with the passage in 1935 of the Prairie Farms Rehabilita- 

 tion Aot, must be aooorded its proper plaoe as an important supplement 



