-In contrast to the coverage in the Northeast, most States 
and Provinces west of the Appalachians are too inadequately represented 
for moderately important annual changes in woodcock populations to be 
detected. Minnesota and Wisconsin hold a strategic position in the 
breeding range of the woodcock; yet each of these States had only ~ 
one route that was run in both 1959 and 1960. 
The information provided by the singing ground count is used 
as one basis for judgment in establishing annual hunting regulations. 
Consequently, for the best management of the woodcock it is important 
to have all parts of the species' range well represented in the annual 
survey. Ina current study we are estimating the number of counts 
needed for better information, and calculating the optimum distribution 
of these counts. Additional studies to determine how reliably the 
- sampled routes represent the continental population also are in 
critical need. 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
This study would not have been possible without the coopera- 
tion of the Canadian Wildlife Service and the State Conservation 
Departments that provide much of the annual coverage on which all 
comparisons depend. Thanks are extended to ali individuals who 
generously gave of their time to conduct the counts; their names 
appear in Tables 5 and 6. The following State agencies participated 
in the 1960 counts: 
Connecticut Board of Fisheries and Game 
Delaware Board of Game and Fish Commissioners 
‘Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources 
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Game, and Maine Cooperative 
Wildlife Research Unit | 
Massachusetts Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit 
Michigan Department of Conservation 
Minnesota Department of Conservation 
New Hampshire Fish and Game Department 
New Jersey Department of Conservation and Economic Development 
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission 
Ohio Department of Natural Resources 
Pennsylvania Game Commission and Pennsylvania Cooperative Wildlife 
Research Unit 
West Virginia Conservation Commission 
Wisconsin Conservation Department 
Material for Tables 5 and 6 was tabulated in part by Dr. 
David A. Munro, Maurice H. Lundy, William T. Davis and Allan T. 
Studholme. 
