species-mallard (406,800), wood duck 
(150,500), ring-necked duck (80,900, green- 
winged teal (63,100), American widgeon 
(49,300), pintail (47,800), lesser scaup 
(43,600), and black duck . (43,200)-totaled 
885,200 ducks or 86 percent of the Flyway 
bag of all species. 
Among dabbling ducks only wood duck and 
blue-winged teal registered bag increases 
(39% and 5%) over the previous hunting sea- 
son, Of the diving ducks only ruddy duck 
(29%), greater scaup (21%), and ring-necked 
duck (2%) registered bag increases, 
The total Flyway goose bag ofan estimated 
130,200 birds dropped 24 percent from the 
previous season, An additional 27,400 geese 
were knocked down but not retrieved, for a 
total kill (bag plus cripples) of approximately 
157,600 geese, All States registered de- 
creases in the goose kill except Mississippi 
(+300%), Alabama (+278%), Ohio (+14%), and 
Michigan (+10%) as shown in table A-12. 
An estimated 80,600 coots were bagged in 
the Flyway, an increase of 11 percent over 
the previous season, An additional 24,500 
coots were knocked down but not retrieved, 
yielding a total kill (bag plus cripples) of 
about 105,100 coots. 
All States registered sharp decreases in the 
total duck bag with the exception of Missis- 
sippi (+76%) and Alabama (+57%), table A- 13. 
The estimated increases in the total duck 
bags of these two States were both due to an 
increase in active hunters and an increase in 
the average seasonal bag per hunter. 
A total of approximately 357,640 waterfowl 
hunters, 23 percent, were afield during an 
estimated 2,084,800 hunter-days, registering 
a decrease in the estimate of 29 percent from 
the previous year, 
WING COLLECTION SURVEY 
Flyway-wide age ratios of the more im- 
portant species of ducks in the kill in the 
Mississippi Flyway during the 1960, 1961, 
and 1962 hunting seasons are shown in table 
B-3, (p. 76), Eight of the 13 species con- 
sidered here showed fewer immatures per 
adult in the 1962 kill than in the 1961 kill. 
The ratio of immature to adult mallards 
(table B-3) was slightly higher in 1962 thanin 
1961 in most of the States. The largest in- 
creases were in the northern half of the Fly- 
way. The weighted flyway-wide ratio in- 
creased from 1.08 immatures per adult in 
1961 to 1.40 immatures per adult in 1962, 
Black duck wing collections inthe Mississippi 
WINTER 
Data supplied by Arthur S, Hawkins 
Mississippi Flyway Representative, Bureau 
of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife 
This year the annual midwinter waterfowl 
survey in the 14 Mississippi Flyway States 
started on January 7 and ended January 15. 
As usual, a few individuals having wide ex- 
perience in assessing bird populations tallied 
the waterfowl present in all the key areas 
while a larger corps of less experienced ob- 
servers covered the widely scattered minor 
Flyway in 1962 indicated lower ratios of im- 
mature to adult birds from both Wisconsin 
and Michigan (table B-4), Black duck age 
ratios from other States in the Flyway were 
generally similar to those obtained in 1961, 
Species composition of the kill in the 
Mississippi Flyway is shown in table B-5. 
Mallards decreased from 48,9 to 40,0 percent 
of the total kill. The proportion of the kill 
consisting of wood ducks showed a large in- 
crease from 6,1 to 15.3 percent of the total 
kill. Lesser scaup declined from 8.9 to 4,1 
percent, while the ringneck increased from 
4.4 to 7.7 percent of the total kill. 
SURVEY 
wintering areas, Thetotal number participat- 
ing (740) and total miles traveled (61,000) 
during the survey were identical this year 
and 1962. The Department of Defense again 
assisted the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and 
Wildlife and the State conservation depart- 
ments in making complete coverage possible. 
Weather usually interferes with the mid- 
winter survey operation and this year was no 
exception, However, most of the survey was 
conducted under remarkably favorable condi- 
tions and operational difficulties were at a 
minimum, While the 1962 survey required a 
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