CENTRAL FLYWAY 
mallard, gadwall, baldpate, blue-winged teal, scaup, ruddy and coot. 
Southern Saskatchewan broods this year are larger than last 
year's with the 1955 brood size (Class II} averaging 6.0 ducklings. 
Approximately 26 percent of the broods observed were Class I, 47 percent 
Class Iland 27 percent Class III. 
Conclusions - 
All data indicate that the 1955 waterfowl rearing season has 
been the best experienced in southern Saskatchewan in the last five years, 
even surpassing the outstanding 1952 season. 
SOUTH DAKOTA 
Weather and Water Conditions - 
The trend toward poorer water conditions which begin in South 
Dakota in 1954 has continued into 1955. Light snowfall during the winter 
with a resulting very light spring runoff coupled with below-normal rainfall 
during the early spring resulted in extremely dry conditions at the start of 
the current waterfowl breeding season. 
These extremely poor conditions are reflected in the number of 
water areas of all types observed during the annual survey of the breeding 
waterfowl population in May. The average, state-wide, density of water 
areas of all types was only 2.35 areas per square mile. This is 49 percent 
below the 1954 average of 4.64 water areas per square mile, and is 59 per- 
cent below the 1950-1954, five-year average of 5.71 water areas per square 
mile. Current water conditions are by far the poorest on record since 
extensive surveys were begun in 1950. 
In spite of above-normal rainfall in parts of South Dakota following 
the survey of the breeding population in May, water conditions for waterfowl 
continued to deteriorate. At the time of the brood density survey in mid-July 
there were only 1.22 water areas (other than streams) per square mile in 
eastern South Dakota. This is 45 percent below the 1954 average of 2.23 
water areas per square mile, and is 59 percent below the 1953-1954, two- 
year average of 2.98 water areas per square mile in mid-July. 
Breeding Population Indices - 
The physiographic distribution of the breeding population appears 
in Table 1. The decrease in the breeding duck population was general over 
the entire State, ranging from 34 percent on the Missouri Plateau to 66 per- 
cent in the James River Valley. 
39 
