BALLARD. 28 
of May in northern Indiana, to early June in tin- Mackenzie Valley 
and the Yukon Delta, and the last week of June in Greenland. 
It is one of the common ducks of the Old World, breeding in the 
Northern Hemisphere and ranging south in winter to central Africa 
and southern Asia. 
Winter range. The mallard is a fresh water duck, and in general it 
winters as Par north as open fresh Water is found. The greater num- 
ber spend the winter in the southern half of the Mississippi Valley, 
and for many years this was the source of a large part of the market 
supply. The numbers killed were almost incredible. Big Lake. 
Arkansas, was and still is one of the favorite resorts, and during 
the winter of L893 94 a single -gunner sold 8,000 mallards, while the 
total number sent to market from this one place amounted to L20,000. 
Fortunately both Arkansas and Missouri now forbid market shooting, 
and this deplorable slaughter has been decidedly lessened. 
This species winters casually in eastern Massachusetts and central 
New York, accidentally in Nova Scotia, and regularly from Virginia 
to northern Florida. It is less common in central Florida, and has 
been recorded in the Bermudas, Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Grenada, 
Carriacou, Panama, and Costa Rica. Most of these localities have 
only one record each, showing that the mallard is only a straggler to 
the southeast of the United States. There seems to be no record for 
Central America from Costa Rica to Mexico. The species i^ a com- 
mon winter resident of northern Mexico and ranges south to Jalapa, 
the 4 Valley of Mexico, Colima, and southern Lower California. 
The northern winter limit in the interior is in Ohio, northern Indi- 
ana, southern Wisconsin. Nebraska, Wyoming, and central Montana. 
The species is common in winter along the whole Pacific coast as far 
north as the Aleutian Island^. 
Spring migration. It is among the earliest of ducks to move 
northward and forms a large proportion of the early Hocks. The 
portion of the central Mississippi Valley that forms the extreme 
•winter range is invaded by the spring migrants the latter part ^i 
February: Frankfort. Ind. (average for ten years). February 21; 
central Illinois (twelve years), February 22; central Missouri (six- 
teen years), February 26; Keokuk. Iowa (nine years), February 24; 
southern Kansas (eleven years), February 18; southeastern Nebraska 
(five years), February L9. Just north of the winter range average 
dates of spring arrival are: Erie, Fa., March :>; central New York, 
March 23; Oberlin, Ohio, March 21; southern Michigan, March :»; 
southern Ontario, March 24; Ottawa. Ontario. March *_?7: Chicago, 
111. (eleven years). March 19; southern Wisconsin (twelve years), March 
21; Spirit Fake. Iowa. March L0; Heron Lake. Minn.. March 11; 
central South Dakota (fourteen years), March 1»'»: Larimore. N. 
Dak. (twelve years). March 28; Terry. Mont.. March 26. The mallard 
