the two surveys, howevere Ring-necked ducks, gadwall, and American 
widgeon were reported in lesser proportion in the Mail Questionnaire 
Survey; whereas blue-winged teal, canvasbacks and, to a lesser 
degree, mallards were reported in greater proportion. The wing 
collection showed seasonal changes in the species composition of the 
kill in several States and so provided basic information on the timing 
of migration and the harvest. 
Age ratios were lowest for the redhead, mallard, canvasback 
and pintail, in ascending order. Substantial proportions of the 
populations of these four species breed in the area that was most 
severely affected by drought during the 1959 breeding season. 
Certain species that breed to a greater extent outside the drought 
area had higher age ratios. For example, the black duck had an 
age ratio of 1.53 immatures per adult, in contrast to 0.77 for the 
mallard. Mallard age ratios differed between States and between 
differenct parts of the same State. For example, the age ratio was 
1.20 in Minnesota, 2.13 in Wisconsin, and 2.56 in Michigan. This 
series thus shows an increase in the age ratios from west to east. 
There was a similar west-to-east increase in the next tier of 
Mississippi Flyway States, where the mallard age ratio was 0.53 
in Iowa, 0.64 in Illinois, 1.46 in Indiana, and 1.55 in Ohio. One 
explanation for the higher age ratios in the eastern part of the 
Flyway is that mallards produced in the eastern and northern part 
of the breeding range were less affected by the drought than were 
those in the major breeding area in the Canadian Prairie Provinces. 
Age ratios in most States in the southern portion of the Mississippi 
Flyway were 0.51 or less. 
Sex ratios for various species differed markedly among the 
States and among the periods of the season. Information on age 
and sex ratios was obtained from several sources in addition to 
the wing collection. Wings collected by refuge personnel near 
certain Federal refuges in both the Central and Pacific Flyways 
suggested that pintail age ratios were low in all major harvest 
areas. Bag checks made by State waterfowl biologists in the 
Mississippi Flyway showed a high age ratio among pintails in 
Ohio and a very low age ratio among blue-winged teal in Louisiana. 
These results were similar to those shown in the small wing- 
collection samples from the same areas. 
Problems of interpreting data from the wing collection concern 
the geographic distribution of the sample, differential vulnerability 
of the various age and sex groups, sampling error, and weighting, 
Results of the wing survey in the Mississippi Flyway were so satis- 
factory that the wing-collection technique is judged a promising 
research tool. 
ahde 
