102 
Species Composition 

Alberta 
Species 1952 1953 1954 
Pintail 1989 2586 2125 
Mallard 1014 1712 1653 
Blue-winged teal 355 544 995 
Shoveler 357 510 722 
Lesser scaup . 291 449 564 
Baldpate 249 368 368 
Gadwall 96 99 176 
Redhead 68 138 146 
Canvasback 35 154 78 
Green-winged teal 42 60 58 
Ruddy 13 53 48 
Bufflehead 1 9 11 
Golden-eye - 3 1 
Cinnamon teal 1 1 l 
White-winged scoter 2 - - 
Ring -necked | 1 - - 
Wood duck - - 1 
Unidentified 5 20.—C 30 
4519 6715 6988 
The over-all Alberta population in the area sampled by the transects shows 
an increase of 4 percent which lying well within the margin of error is best expressed 
as unchanged from 1953 but above that of 1952, The most conspicuous feature was a 
shift in population from the drier southwest and east central parts of the province to 
the exceptional well watered west central section. ; 
Pintails decreased from the previous year, mallards remained about the 
Same. Gains by blue-winged teal and shovelers compensated for losses by other 
species. 
The July 15 transects showed that abundant early season rains had maintained 
surface waters and that production of the duck crop was assured. Above normal 
precipitation during the remainder of the summer guaranteed this production and 
except perhaps for a few localized districts the whole area went into winter with 
water levels high and in ideal condition for 1955. 
