You can select multiple components on a polygon mesh by dragging your mouse cursor over them. Maya offers two methods of multiple component selection, Marquee Select and Drag Select.
To set Marquee Select or Drag Select
With Marquee Select, you can select multiple components by dragging a rectangular marquee box over them with the mouse.
You can also reposition a marquee select without redrawing the marquee.
A marquee appears and highlights any components contained within it.
This works in the scene view, UV Texture Editor, Graph Editor and Dope Sheet.
With Drag select, you can select multiple components by dragging the mouse over them. This is useful for selecting a continuous line of components.
Drag Select is similar to the Paint Selection feature except without a radius. For more information, see Select components by painting.
Unlike Paint Selection, you can use Drag select to select obstructed components (components covered by other components). You can modify this behavior by using Camera based selection.
For more information, see Select only unobstructed components.