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The months of July and August were drier than usual. Water levels became 
low in some areas but were not particularly unfavorable for waterfowl production. 
Allin all, except for the snowy weather in early May, the spring and summer of 
1954 were generally favorable for nesting and brood rearing. Rainstorms occur 
in June in most years. 
This year brood counts were made earlier than usual which proved to be a 
mistake. The counts were made early so that we could have some production 
information to present at the July 6 meeting of the Mississippi Flyway Council in 
St. Louis. The meeting was hurried and the production information was not discussed. 
Thus, the following brood data are not strictly comparable with the 1952 and 1953 
counts since some of the counts were made as much as ten days earlier than in these 
years. 
Brood counts were made on 55 water areas and pothole transect routes in 
the period May 23 - July 2. The brood counts were made in all parts of the State. 
The most notable feature of the counts was the scarcity of broods. A total of 137 
broods was seen in all. 
Thirty of the brood count areas had been censused both in 1952 and 1953. On 
these areas, only 60 broods were recorded this year compared with 132 in 1953 and 
231 in 1952. Most of the broods (63 percent) were of Class I age. It is possible 
that the counts were made while the main hatch of the spring was coming off. 
Average brood sizes were quite large. The over-all average brood size was 
7.5, compared with 7.2 in 1953 and 7.4 in 1952. Brood sizes ran large for mallards, 
blue -winged teal and ringnecks which are the principal breeding ducks of the State. 
Most mallard broods were in the Class I and Class II age groups. The absence of 
mallards and other ducks in the Class III group indicates that real early nests may 
have been destroyed by the snowstorm in May. Nearly all blue-winged teal and ring- 
neck broods were of Class I indicating that a hatch was in progress for these species 
when the counts were made, 
In summarizing the situation as it appeared in early July, it looked like pro- 
duction was low in numbers of broods. Broods observed, however, were of a good 
size, penerally. The data were not strictly comparable with those of previous years 
so additional brood study was necessary to evaluate the situation. The abnormal 
weather of early May had posed the question of whether the spring breeding pair 
census really represented the abundance of our breeding duck population. 
The banding crews went afield on July 12 and it soon became apparent that 
our duck production was very poor. One of the biggest problems of some of the crews 
was in finding enough young ducks to band in areas that contained good habitat. The 
scarcity of broods was particularly noticeable in the southern half of the State. In 
many localities, adult ducks were scarce, indicating that ducks recorded on the 
spring breeding ground survey may have moved out after the survey was made, 
