182 
The 1955 breeding survey indicated that the numbers of all species 
had increased over 1954, Only baldpate and diver species showed increases over 
the 1950 to 1954 index while other species showed decreases from the five-year 
average. The tremendous increase in scaup was due to the survey being slightly 
earlier and scaup concentrations remaining in the State for a longer period than - 
on previous years, A check run made the latter part of May showed that the scaup 
had for the most part moved out of the State. However, a slight increase in 
breeding by all diver species could be anticipated due to the excellent water con- 
ditions in the northern one-half of the State. 
The distribution of waterfowl throughout the State during the past three 
years based on the aerial transects is shown by Table [II]. The northern transects 
(1,2,3, and 4) show a higher population than in 1953. However, transects 5 
through 18 show lower counts than in 1953. All of the transects in 1955 were 
higher than 1954 with the exception of numbers 12, 13, 14, 17, and18. The 
largest difference in populations of 1954 compared to 1955 are in transects 1 
through 7. 
