of a banded population killed by hunters is described. It seems 
obvious that large-scale banding stations strategically placed 
throughout the main breeding grounds of waterfowl can be expected 
to yield valuable data on the effectiveness of waterfowl hunting 
regulations and a useful index of the annual kill. 
There is good reason to believe that, over a period of 
years, mallard populations are stabilized by an age ratio of about 
0.9 young per adult at the end of the hunting season. A preliminary 
life table based on only.163 birds suggests a considerable shrinkage 
in the ratio of young to adult after September 1, perhaps from a 
value of about 1.6. The 55 per cent hatching success for 276 nests 
studied before 199 seems to have been sufficient to balance this 
mortality. The man clutch size of 7.8 currently reported implies 
that a considerable amount of renesting it probably taking place 
in this species. 
163 
