In the summer of 1970, 648 (329 males and 319 females) hand-reared wild-strain mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) were banded and released at the Arrowwood Naffonal Wildlife Refuge, Edmunds, North Dakota. The females were also marked with numbered nasal saddles. Liberation was by the gentle release method, and no special effort was made to isolate or condition the ducklings prior to release. Ducklings were placed in an enclosed pond area at 2S to 45 days of age. Altogether, 627 (97 percent) ducklings reached flight age and dispersed gradually into the wild. Al1 had left the release area by 25 November. First-year band recovery reports indicated that 68 (11 percent) of the birds were shot in 1S states. Their migraffon pattern was similar to that for immature wild mallards banded in North Dakota in 1970. Eighty-nine ( 33 percent ) of a possible 270 marked females returned to Arrowwood Refuge during 1971. When consideration is given to assumed normal natural mortality and crippling loss, an estimated minimum of 43 percent of the surviving females returned to the release area. Returning birds not observed would raise this figure even higher. This potential homing rate is considerably higher than rates reported for other studies using various strains of mallards. Numerous observations of nests and broods indicated that breeding behavior and nesting success were similar to those of wild mallards in the area. The success of this release is attributed to the inherent capability of hand-reared, wild-strain mallards to revert to their wild behavior, and to the high survival to flight age and first fall migration afforded by the gentle release in a sanctuary area. Indications are that releases of this type under the described conditions can be used to increase the breeding population of mallards in a local area. J. WILDL. MANAGE. 37(2J: 7 547 59 Liberating hand-reared waterfowl to establish or supplement local breeding populations has been advocated by many, including Pirnie (1935), McCabe (1947), Foley (1954), Hunt and Smii ( 1966 ), and Borden and Hochbaum (1966), arld has received qualified rejection by others, including Lincoln (1934), Brakhage (1953), Hunt et al. (1958), and Bednarik and Hanson (1965). Survival of mallards released into the wild is described by Benson (1939) and Kiel ( 1970) . Most of these studies dealt with domestic or semidomestic strains of mallards in which the observed survival and homing was low. Better success was achieved in gentle-release studies by Brakhage (19S3) involving wild-strain mallards and by Doty and Kruse (1972) involving wild-strain wood ducks (Aix sponsa) at Arrowwood National Wildlife Refuge in 1968. In view of the scarcity of information but encouraging success achieved from releases of this type, it was decided to conduct further studies with wild-strain mallards, incolporating the best features of the previous studies and several additional features. Emphasis was placed upon assessing the migration, homing, and nesting of the released birds. We acknowledge the assistance of personnel at the Arrowwood National Wildlife Refuge in caring for the ducklings, and of various personnel of the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: R. A. Madson and Karl L. Hansen in banding, marking and other aspects of the study; Paul F. Springer for editorial assistance; and Harvey K. Nelson and George \7. Burger for providing encouragement and help in plan-