MORTALITY AMONG WATERFOWL. |. Gg 
lower course of this north channel from the North Shore Gun Club 
eastward can be ditched and the water prevented from spreading 
on the shallows, as it does now, conditions will undoubtedly improve. 
This should cause the ducks to use the better drained south channel 
and alleviate the trouble. When the irrigation dams are opened in 
September and there is an abundance of water, the flats could again 
be covered, attracting the birds for the fall shooting. Here it might 
be possible also to establish ponds fed by artesian water which would 
"save many birds could they be induced to visit them to feed and 
drink. 
The extensive flats at the mouth of the Bear River present a still 
more serious problem. So large an area is involved that drainage 
under present conditions is impracticable, but even if it were possible 
_ this course would deprive enormous numbers of water birds of a 
summer home. Apparently the only solution here is to increase by 
- some means the water supply during July, August, and the early part 
of September. If an agreement could be made with the cana! com- 
panies controlling the irrigation project dams across Bear River 
whereby more water could be allowed to pass their dams, reservoirs 
might be established higher up, and a supply might be reserved for the 
summer months. It might even be practicable to utilize for this 
purpose some of the water from Bear Lake. The construction of a 
low dam across South Bay and East Pass in order to raise the water 
level has been considered. As such a dam would be cut out each 
year by the ice, an endeavor to increase the water supply would be 
more practicable. In damming up the bay there is danger of too 
much stagnant water, and this might add to the trouble. 
A measure which might be adopted in all three localities, and one 
strongly recommended, is to station men on the marshes to gather 
up the helpless birds and pen them on fresh water. Considering the 
_ great number of birds that might be saved in this way the expense 
will be slight, and in dry seasons this may prove the only feasible 
means of relief. From August 11 to September 26 there were brought 
in to the Duckville Gun Club 586 ducks, of 6 species. The following 
table gives the percentage of recoveries and deaths: 
Species. Number. | Recovered. | Died. 
Per cent. Per cent. 
(WSUS GE ooo edt GH Ue Sean ym 80 20 
Hoa oe nets se SCS ES UNA ce ee Toe ee nae 5 80 20 
SRR oo toe oe ot ee ee 233 77 23 
WORST ER) (2 tl We Be ag 258 69 31 
RIBS EG Tee Les AAS Se ie Sats ne 16 63 37 
ESAT DIL. SDSS SER Se ee 15 60 40 
pe ea aeatci 
errr ae hs Ps. oe ano nbu edb weet ee | 586 73 | 27 
When large and small ducks were inclosed together the stronger 
piniails and mallards crowded the teal and spoonbills, and many were 
