274 
A drought was experienced during June and July but the ponds maintained 
sufficient water for satisfactory brooding. The practice of partially drawing down 
the ponds to expose only the edges and back sections permitted broods using these 
ponds previous to the drawn down to remain in the pond rather than forcing them out 
by a complete draw down. As the vegetation grew in the exposed area in response 
to the draw down, the ponds were again reflooded and the young ducks could forage 
for insects and other foods in the flooded areas. 
Nest Success 
No systematic searches were made for nests during this study. Due to the 
relatively small numbers of waterfowl using the area and the dense cover in and 
around the ponds and lakes, it was felt that nest searches would have been impractical. 
Where nests were located accidentally they were observed until the nest was 
destroyed. 
Success of the Season 
Table I shows a summary of the four years' data on the numbers of broods 
observed and the average brood size per species for each year. The black duck 
shows an increase of one brood over 1953 and 1952 and an increase of three broods 
over 1951, which was the first year of the study. The average brood size increased 
from 1952 until 1954. 
The wood duck remained at two broods in 1953 and 1954 but the average 
brood size increased from 6.0 young in 1953 to 6.5 in 1954, This species showed a 
decline from six broods in 1951 to three broods in 1952, and then remained at two 
broods during 1953 and 1954. This decline was also noticed in the wood duck nesting 
box utilization and also in the numbers of paired birds observed in the area during 
the early spring. 
The mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos) amounted to one brood in 1954 as 
compared to two broods in 1953, one in 1952, and none in 1951. 
