-2- 
   ben a creek or a narrows. And while it now may be many years dry and 
j  completely obliterated, the flow of traffic over it remains as strong
as 
    ever because present generations are so strongly linked to past generations

    bp  The same tradition brine the whistling swans back to exactly the
same 
    April rendt!fous on the bay here. Traditions are stronger in some species

    than in others. Mallards and pintails pioneer to new waters in wet springs

  -o whichbthey cannot be linked by tradition, while Canvasbacks and Redheads

    tend to hold to the permanent and traditional breeding areas. Traditions

    do not become a part of the innate behavior pmppamb pattern and are carried

    from one generation to another only by movement.  They can be broken.

    For instance ,d once *hought he could make a pass better by clearing
away 
    all the tree growth in its span. Perhaps because it was so suddenly strange,

    or because they were wary of the slashings, the ducks did not use it
that 
    year and, although it was one of the best passes on the ridge and has
no* 
    become overgrown to its former appearance, it has never been used since
the 
    slashing . The strengIt of a tradition probably depends upon the life
span 
    of the species and itsbreeding potential. Imindumkm   Take away hunting
and 
    traditions would be stronger in geese than in ducks, because of tbeir
longer- 
    life expectancy. But buinNsmem hunting cuts so heavily into the expected

    long life span of geese  m, together with their lower breeding potentiak,

    that traditions in geese are probably more easily broken than in ducks.
J 
            We have had a strange spring flight here. The usual mid-April
passage 
    of Mallards and pintails took place between March 20 and 31, Then, with

    colt weather in April, the flights slacked off and the other species
have 
    come in about on schedule. In general the numbers have been about the
same 
    hwo as last year, with a drop in bluebills. Wowever, on the p agricultural

    prairie which is wetter than last spring and where, In many places, there

    was an unharvested crop carried over from last year, Mallards and pintails

    are present in unbelievable numbers. Geese are more abundant than in
four 
    years perhaps because they are staying here longer since the training
planes 
    stopped using the marsh. There has been a whopper of an increase in Whistlipg

    swans, which never were bothered by the planes. Last year the highest
count 
    I could get on the bay was 500; last night I counted 1400 whistling swans.

    In a sample, incidentally, there were 31 grey-headed young to 120 adults.

            I am anxious to get things movinr Tre as Peoo  ane spible1, but
will 
    hold off until Lyle and Pete get some definite word as to when they will
be 
    able to start in again for, if &ma possible, I want them to be in
on the 
    beginning of the new program. 
            Joan and Nd send their regards; the baby is breaking all existing

    Provincial records.  Hope Carl is still in the States. 
 
                                         Yours, 
 
 
g5~ 
 
 
A /Z4~V1 ~t-~t~  ~  ~  .~-*t ~Azr6~*~4~ 
 
 
v/c