26 
State in the Flyway for both the 1959-60 
and 1960-61 season are presented in table 
B-4. An increase in the proportion of young 
mallards in 1960-61 was noted in the kill 
in all States except Indiana, where the 
1959-60 season's sample was inadequate for 
comparison. In many States the ratio of 
immature to adult birds in 1960-61 was 
more than twice that obtained during the 
1959-60 season. The ratio of young to adult 
mallards increased from west to east 
among the States of Minnesota, Wisconsin, 
and Michigan in both years. 
Species composition of the kill during 
the 1960-61 hunting season as derivedfrom 
the wing-collection survey indicated an 
increase in the importance of mallards but 
a marked decrease in lesser scaup when 
compared with species composition ob- 
tained from wings collected in the 1959-60 
hunting season (table B-2). The wing col- 
lection survey and the waterfowl] kill survey 
were in good agreement as to the species 
composition of the kill and thus results of 
the wing-collection survey supported the 
findings of the waterfowl kill survey (table 
A-2, p. 43). Gadwall, American widgeon, 
and ring-necked duck wings were received 
in relatively greater number than hunters 
reported these species on their question- 
naire forms. Wings of mallards, blue- 
winged and green-winged teal, and scaup 
were received in relatively fewer numbers 
than hunters reported. Because not all 
hunters received the eastern questionnaire 
form on which the black duck was listed, 
the waterfowl kill survey probably under- 
reported that species. 
WINTER SURVEY 
FACTORS AFFECTING SURVEY 
Seldom, if ever, in the past have condi- 
tions for observing waterfowl been as 
uniformly good in the Mississippi Flyway 
as they were this year during the inventory 
period. No adverse factors affecting water- 
fowl counts were reported. Besides the 
good weather other factors that tended to 
make counting easier included semi- 
drought conditions or ice cover, which 
restricted the birds to fewer places, and 
the recent ending of the waterfowl hunting 
season in seven States, so that the birds 
were still concentrated on or near refuges 
at the time of the survey. 
So many favorable conditions occurring 
simultaneously is unusual and the counts 
may be biased in favor of 1961 when 
comparisons with past years are made. 
POPULATION TRENDS 
More than 94 millionducks, geese, swans, 
and coots were tallied in the Mississippi 
-Flyway States during the 1961 survey. This 
count is 40 percent above the ll-year 
average and 18 percent higher than last 
year's count. It should not be assumed, 
however, that the current situation in this 
Flyway is a reflection of the overall status 
of the waterfowl population. In fact, a 
detailed analysis suggests that the situation 
is somewhat less favorable than the gross 
figures indicate. 
This year's high total was greatly in- 
fluenced by (1) the scaup count, (2) the count 
in southwestern Louisiana of certain 
dabblers, (3) the coot count, and (4) the goose 
count. The greatest single influence was 
the scaup count, which reached anunprece- 
dented 1,625,578, or 8 times the average 
for the 10-year period preceding 1960. It 
has been recognized for a long time that a 
high or low scaup count in any given year 
merely reflects whether the birds were 
inshore or offshore. Some years the bulk 
of the population is outside the range of the 
census takers and results in a low count. 
Last year and again this year conditions 
were such that the birds were found along 
the census routes. Unless this erratic 
behavior of the scaup is understood and 
taken into account, the data from this survey 
can be quite misleading. 
The continued favorable habitat conditions 
in the coastal marshes of western Louisiana, 
resulting from WHurricane Audrey, were 
reflected in the high counts of sixdabblers: 
gadwall, baldpate, green-winged teal, blue- 
winged teal, shoveler, and pintail. The 
latest count in that area for these species 
was more than twice the average for the 
8-year period before the hurricane and, 
excluding the pintail, the difference was 
even greater. Were the conditions in these 
marshes to become less favorable, a high 
