12 N<>RTII AMERICAN DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWAN-. 
-port and Un- the table. The future supply must come from isolated 
pairs and small colonic- scattered in favorable localities over Canada 
and the northern quarter of the United States. Fortunately, such 
favorable place- exist and will oontinue to exist for many years. 
An important question in connection with the protection of ducks 
i- the time when they pair for the breeding season, since it is evident 
that if shooting is continued after the birds are paired a decided 
decrease in the number of broods will result. While the present state 
of knowledge doe- not warrant positive statements as to the exact date 
of pairing of each species, enough has been learned to show that in the 
case of many species pairing occurs before the breeding- grounds are 
reached. Many if not most of the mallards and shovelers that pass 
through Illinois on their way to more northern breeding grounds are 
paired before they leave that State, and the same is true of these 
specie- in Iowa. Many black ducks, wood ducks, and teal are paired 
in the spring by the time they reach Massachusetts. The following 
letter from Hon. John E. Thayer is of interest in this connection: 
I am absolutely positive that mallards, black ducks, ^adwalls, widgeons, green- 
winged and blue-winged teal, shovelers, and pintails begin mating at Currituck 
Sound, North Carolina, by February 15. By the 1st of March they are mated. 
The law should protect them then, for if one is shot, the other will keep flying about 
until within easy range. There is not a shadow of doubt that the ducks I have 
named are mated before they migrate, and if we do not want to exterminate them, 
laws should protect them from the time they leave the South. 
Above have been outlined the causes, past and present, of tin 4 great 
diminution in the numbers of the ducks. The practical problem of 
to-day is the present and future preservation of the remnant. It goes 
without saying that till ducks should be protected during the breeding 
season. Notes in the following pages under the different species show 
the dates at which the earliest eggs have been found, and from these 
dates it is easy to determine the beginning of the breeding season. 
The wood duck, in northern Florida, begins nesting b} r the middle 
of February and the black duck, in Massachusetts, by April 20. It 
follows, therefore, that at the very latest these ducks should not be 
disturbed in Florida after February nor in Massachusetts after April 1. 
These dates apply to corresponding latitudes in the Mississippi Valley, 
and the 1st of May would be the latest date for Minnesota and North 
Dakota. On the Pacific slope the corresponding nesting dates are 
from late March in southern California to late April m tin 1 State of 
Washington. 
Protection during the breeding season is the least that any friend of 
the ducks would advise. The present rapid diminution in the number 
of waterfowl can not be stayed, however, by such partial measures. 
Nothing short of the absolute prohibition of Spring shooting in every 
part of the count it should be advocated by those who believe that 
duck shooting should be enjoyed by future generations. 
