Mallard

Troyce Gray Smith, 86, NSA analystTroyce Gray Smith, a retired National Security Agency analyst, died of a stroke April 5 at Franklin Square Hospital. She was 86 and, since last year, lived at Oak Crest retirement community in Baltimore County.Previously, she lived in Heritage Harbour community in Annapolis for 16 years.She worked for NSA for about 25 years and retired in 1970.The Louisiana native grew up in New Orleans and attended Tulane University.In 1944, she married Roderick Lowell Smith, who worked for the U.S. Department of State.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is setting hunting seasons and bag limits for waterfowl this fall, and while it is almost set in cement that there will be no days for migratory Canada geese in the Atlantic Flyway, there are some interesting possibilities for duck hunters.Last year, with predictions of a fine fall flight of ducks, the USFWS chose a combination of liberal bag limits and seasons. In Maryland, that resulted in a 50-day season and a bag limit of four ducks per day.But many hunters in the state will admit they rarely came close to getting a limit, despite the great numbers of ducks that were expected to be flying south last fall.

Police LogLothian: Someone broke off the knob of a rear door of a home in the 6200 block of Mallard Lane overnight Saturday to get in and steal a television valued at $400.Pub Date: 2/04/97

As research gives new insights into the past, information about antiques is always being updated.For many years, collectors prized the furniture made by P. Mallard. Records show he was in New York in 1829 but by 1832 was working in Louisiana. His store moved up and down Royal Street in New Orleans until 1874.Mallard made rococo and Renaissance Revival-style Victorian furniture with elaborate carvings. He was known in some directories as Pierre Mallard, but many collectors believed his name was Prudence.

For sale: 22-foot sailboat. Sleeps four. Stove, radio, lights, ducks.David Schott is offering a boating accessory that may or may not lure prospective buyers.Tucked in the folds of the mainsail of his boat is a mallard duck and her nest of four large eggs.And that presents a dilemma.Because the duck, a migratory waterfowl, is protected by federal law, Mr. Schott can't set sail from his Annapolis slip without permission, which could keep him tied to the dock for a month.His choices?Apply and wait for a federal exemption or let nature take its course.

A photograph of ducks in a net published with the On the Bay column in yesterday's editions should have been labeled a 1963 file photo.The Sun regrets the errors.IT WAS a rainy, winter evening several years ago, about this time of year, that I passed with an old waterman and his wife.I had taken some pains to win their confidence in previous meetings, and this night the dam had broken, and the tales of their lives and times rolled out in a rich torrent.Until I mentioned ducks -- the shooting and trapping of them, to be specific.

An article and photograph in yesterday's editions of The Sun described how seven women shot 45 mallard ducks during morning hunt on a Dorchester County farm. Forty-three of the ducks were banded birds raised and released on the farm, and two of the ducks were wild birds. State law governing the number of ducks hunters can shoot on a single day -- the "bag limit" rule -- exempts from the count birds raised and released on a farm, so the hunters were not in violation of the individual daily bag limit for mallards, which is four birds (with only one being female)

Picking the front-runners in any of the local field hockey leagues could not be more difficult this year. Even the coaches have a hard time pinning down the teams to beat.While the Association of Independent Schools always has been a tough call, Baltimore County has become just as tight with the introduction of two new divisions based on strength.The new format should eliminate many of the lopsided scores posted in the past and has received favorable reviews from most county coaches, especially those whose teams are rebuilding.

WAS that a family of mallards that stopped traffic in Brooklandville on a recent rainy Sunday?Our spy was too far back to get clear markings, but not so far as to miss a heartwarming spectacle -- especially for any young-at-heart fan of that 53-year-old children's classic, "Make Way for Ducklings."In Robert McCloskey's tale, Mrs. Mallard receives timely help from Policeman Michael on a busy Boston street as she leads eight ducklings to a rendezvous with Mr. Mallard in the Public Garden.Baltimore drivers may have their faults.

Holier than thou?Rep. Newt Gingrich has branded the Democrats as responsible for all the ills of our society, labeled Bill and Hillary Clinton as enemies of "normal" Americans and implied that a vote for the Republicans would rid the country of such crimes as the Susan Smith tragedy.These claims are ludicrous. Despite Mr. Gingrich's rhetoric, no political party has a hold on family values.Mr. Gingrich's holier-than-thou attitude conveniently ignores the faults and excesses of the Republican party.