United States and Canada. In 1963* envelopes were sent to 
approximately 1,400 hunters who contributed wings in 1962. 
Names of hunters had been originally supplied by State and 
Provincial Conservation Departments, U. S. game management 
agents, and singing-ground cooperators. 
During both years, the Canadian Wildlife Service dis¬ 
tributed envelopes to Canadian cooperators. Hunters returned 
envelopes containing 15*315 wings in 1962 and 12,826 in 1963. 
Age and sex determination 
The age of birds from which wings were taken was deter¬ 
mined from differences in pattern and color of tips of second¬ 
aries. Sex was determined from the outer three primaries, 
which are wider and longer on females (Martin, F. I96I+. 
Woodcock age and sex determination from wings. J. Wildl. 
Mgnrfc. 28 (2): 287-293). 
Method of analysis 
Previous studies have indicated that woodcock probably 
are promiscuous during the breeding season. This means 
that a substantial loss of adult males could occur without 
adversely affecting annual production. Therefore, the ratio 
of young (immatures of each sex) to adult females in the 
hunting kill may be the most useful measure of reproductive 
success each year. 
The age and sex composition of the kill may not reflect 
the actual age and sex composition of the population because 
shooting may result in killing a higher proportion of one 
age or sex than another. However, year-to-year comparisons 
of immatures per adult female provide an index of annual 
productivity. 
Weighting factors 
Since the number of wings received from each State and 
Province was not proportional to the kill in that State or 
Province, wing data for each year were adjusted so that age 
from areas with the largest kills carried the most weight 
in the overall compilations. The average estimated kill 
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