direct recovery rate for immature black 
ducks was 10.1 in 1962 and 7. 6 in 1963 
from seven comparable stations. Direct 
recovery rates in 1963 were lowest from 
bandings at Moosehorn National Wildlife 
Refuge in Maine and highest from bandings 
in Ontario. 
A temporary closure of hunting seasons 
because of fire hazard in the northern part 
of the Atlantic Flyway resulted in a gen¬ 
erally later opening data for most of those 
States (8-14 days later). This could have 
caused a decrease in the kill rates of 
black ducks. However, the small number 
of bandings made it difficult to evaluate 
kill rates among black ducks. 
Relative recovery rates 
Relative recovery rates calculated for 
black ducks banded in most areas showed 
that immature birds were more likely to 
be shot than adults in 1963 (table C-8). 
However, bandings in Ontario showed that, 
among black ducks shot in the United States, 
adults were more apt to be shot than im- 
matures. Recovery data from bandings at 
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge in 
Massachusetts suggested that adults were 
more likely to be shot than immature 
black ducks. The delay of the openings of 
the hunting seasons mentioned above may 
have been responsible for the typical re¬ 
lative recovery rate of black ducks banded 
at Parker River; for example, many of the 
immatures could have left before hunting 
seasons in adjacent States opened and thus 
were not subjected to the usual gunning 
pressure. In fact, the distributions of 
recoveries for immatures showed that 
about one-third of the immatures were 
shot south of New England in 1963, where¬ 
as all of the 1962 recoveries of immatures 
occurred in the northeast. 
A good measure of the relative rate of 
recovery for adult and immature black 
ducks is of paramount importance in the 
understanding of age ratios in that species. 
Age ratios in the kill of black ducks have 
changed markedly in the past by recovery 
data suggest that some of the changes are 
due to changes in the relative vulnerability 
between adults and immatures. Therefore, 
it is very important that we have adequate 
bandings for future evaluation of the popu¬ 
lation phenomena among black ducks. 
Regional relative recovery rates for 
black ducks banded in the States of Maine 
and New York were calculated to investi¬ 
gate the variation in vulnerability between 
the age groups in the North and South 
(table C-9). Recovery data from Maine 
bandings showed that immatures were 
1.40 times as apt to be shot as adults in 
the general latitude of Maine and north; 
this rate decreased to 1.16 south of Maine. 
Among black ducks banded in New York, 
immatures were nearly twice as likely to 
be shot as adults in New York and north, 
while they were only 0. 73 times as vulner¬ 
able to the gun as adults south of the State 
in which banded. 
DISCUSSION 
The increase in direct recovery rates 
among mallards in the Central and Missis¬ 
sippi Flyways was concurrent with a gen¬ 
eral liberalization in the bag limit and 
season length in those Flyways. Although 
season lengths were increased but little in 
1963, the daily bag limit for ducks was in¬ 
creased from two to four and the mallard 
limit from one to two. These liberaliza¬ 
tions were expected to increase the kill of 
waterfowl. For the second consecutive 
year, recovery rates from mallards 
banded in Canada failed to change with a 
change in Federal regulations. However, 
comparisons of recovery data from 
Canadian bandings have thus far been of 
doubtful validity. 
Relative recovery rates (immature: 
adult) for mallards seemed to be lower in 
1963 than in 1962. This occurred be¬ 
cause the increase in recovery rates for 
adults was greater than that for imma¬ 
tures in both the Central and Mississippi 
Flyways. It was suggested in Adminis¬ 
trative Report 22 that high relative re¬ 
covery rate of 1962 might have been a 
result of the short hunting season. The 
small bag limit may also have been a 
factor, and it could be speculated that 
the 1963 bag liberalization resulted in 
the lowered relative recovery rate this 
year. At any rate, regulation liberaliz¬ 
ations could have influenced a change in 
the relative recovery rate by allowing a 
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