Pee OLB ON BUELE TEN PN 
plantings were only partially successful, due probably to the large num- 
bers of carp that infest not only the river proper, but also the sloughs and 
onds. 
i The following observations on the abundance of the ducks in the 
region are based upon two official trips made for the Biological Survey, 
to the Sanganois Club, near Browning, Illinois, for the purpose of trap- 
ping ducks for banding. The first trip covered the period from February 
28 to March 25, 1922, and the second from September 27 to December 
Bri 1922. 
; Merganser (Mergus americanus).—Reported as numerous at times 
but seen by me on only one occasion, November 21, 1922, when one 
drake and two hens were observed. 
Hooded Merganser (Lophedytes cucullatus).—As Mr. Bent has ob- 
served, this bird “is one of the handsomest of our ducks, a fit companion 
for the gaudy wood duck with which it is often associated in the watery 
woodlands.” Several pairs and solitary birds were seen during March, 
usually in the wider portions of the sloughs. Early in November small 
flocks were noted daily, but they were almost all gone by the last of 
that month. 
Mallard (dnas platyrhyncha).—The mallard outnumbers all other 
ducks of this area by 100 to 1. When [I arrived on the marsh early in 
the spring the timberland was overflowed, so that it was possible to go 
anywhere in a boat; in fact, it was impossible to go anywhere without 
one. The mallards were feeding in the shallow water on the pin-oak 
ridges, gleaning acorns and nut grass. A blow from a paddle on the side 
of the cutter would be met with a roar of wings, and in an instant the 
trees would seem to be literally alive with ducks. The water started to 
rise on March 12, and three days later had reached such a depth that 
the shoal-water feeders were forced out. On that date (March 15) not 
over 25 ducks of all kinds were seen. 
The fall migration in 1922 was unusually late, due to an open season, 
and it was the middle of November before the flight was at its height. 
This was preceded by an infiltration of birds that probably represented 
the breeding grounds of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas. Dur- 
ing the latter part of November mallards were present in very large 
numbers, every “bait hole” supporting literally thousands of birds. 
The freeze-up began about the 30th and the ducks left rapidly there- 
after, the long lines flying toward the South being seen daily. 
Black Duck (Anas rubripes tristis)—Not uncommon. In the spring 
I trapped several beautiful hybrids between this species and the mal- 
lard. Most of the black ducks seen in the fall were observed during the 
earlier part of the season, indicating that they arrive from breeding 
grounds considerably south of the regions used by the great bulk of the 
mallards. 
Baldpate (Mareca americana).—Not seen during the spring, and it 1s 
