It is regrettable that more black ducks were not banded in 
this important northern area, for at the present time there are not 
enough recoveries available to give us a complete distribution pattern. 
This situation is offset to some extent, because records from Tinker 
Harbor can be combined with those of the Quebec station since they 
show a sirilar distribution. 
The Baie Johan Beetz station, Quebec, south-southwest of 
Tinker Harbor, on the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, has 
been in operation for the same number of years as the Labrador station 
(since 1947). Most of these northern bandings have been during August 
and September. To show more graphically the distribution of recoveries 
from Baie Jehan Beetz bandings and the relation to the Tinker-Harbor 
station, percentages on a regional basis are grouped as follows: 
Tinker Harbor 8B, J. Beetz Average Total 
Maritime Provinces 
and Newfoundland | 28.5 31.3 30.4 
New England States 26.7 23.1 24.2 
Long Island south 41.0 41.2 41.1 
From this distribution it is apparent that we can justify 
combining these two stations and for the time being at least consider 
the southern Labrador and southeastern Quebec areas as a unit. Wright 
(1948) in a discussion of these bandings likewise concluded that both 
stations were sampling largely the same population of birds. The indiv- 
idual records from these stations plotted on a map show a rigidly coastal 
(largely tidal marsh) location of the recoveries (fig. 1.*). This is 
particularly true with the direct or same-season recoveries. The same 
holds true for recoveries during subsequent years (fig. 2) although there 
seems to be a slight tendency toward dispersal westward in Quebec. That 
the coastal route is preferred by blacks coming out of this north country 
is evidenced by the fact that the Quebee birds seem to go south and 
southeasterly to the Maritime Provinces and stick to the coastal habitat 
all the way to the southern states, crossing land only occasionally, as 
in southeastern New England. It would seem that if any inland migration 
of consequence took place, a few shooting records other than those 
across extreme southeastern New England would be obtained. 
# On maps showing the distribution of recoveries the banding station 
is located within the circled area. This circle embraces an area up 
to 50 miles from the point of banding. All recoveries within this 50 
mile radius are cosidered as local recoveries. The number of local 
recoveries is given under the Figure heading. 
-f- 
