November 3, 1941 
 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 
           The chain of circumstance which produced the Delta Duck Station

 
     was as erratic as the flight of a teal. 
 
           In 1925 Mr. James Ford Bell of Minneapolis bought a shooting 
 
     property in the Delta marsh, in Manitoba. 
 
           In 1930 the drouths started. The flights dwindled. People askeds

 
     What can be done? 
 
           Mr. Bell resolved to raise more ducks than he shot. He built a
duck 
 
     hatchery, employed Edward Ward to operate it, and for a decade has released

 
     to the flights more ducks than were bagged on his marsh. Banding returns

 
     from many states soon attested that his account with nature showed a
plus 
 
     balance in actual wild feathers, as well as on paper. 
 
           It then occurred to Mr. Bell that his marsh and hatchery should

 
     yield not only ducks, but scientific knowledge about ducks. He made

 
     inquiries about men and methods, and thus became acquainted withfthe
present 
 
     members of the Advisory Board, and witjh the American Wildlife Institute.

 
           The upshot was that in 1938 Albert Hochbaum was sent to Delta
to 
 
     begin the researches herein reported. Hochbaum had studied ornithology
at 
 
     Cornell and game management at Wisconsin. By 1939 it was apparent that

 
     Delta offered opportunities, not only for research, but for advanced
training 
 
     in waterfowl management. The venture was accordingly named the Delta
Duck 
 
     Station, and provision was made for a small staff of student assistants

 
     during the field season. Several o         students have contributed
chap- 
 
     ters to this report. 
 
           The Delta Station is financed jointly by Mr. Bell and the American

-7 
 
 
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