158 Wild Birds and their Haunts 



THE COMMON PINTAIL (DAFILA ACUTA). 



THE Common Pintail (Dafila caudacuta) or Sea- 

 Pheasant, is a periodical visitant, arriving in 

 October, and occurring chiefly during winter, 

 both in inland lakes and fens of the south and on the 

 coasts of England and Scotland. In Scotland, however, 

 it is by no means frequent, and it is nearly certain, as an 

 old writer correctly observes, that the long-tailed duck has 

 been mistaken for it on the Western Island and nortnern 

 coasts, where its presence has been regarded as more 

 frequent. 



In the male the colours are very decidedly marked : the 

 head, throat, and forepart of the upp< r neck are umber- 

 brown ; on the crown, with the feathers having pale tips, 

 and on the hind head and sides of the head and auriculars, 

 having a bright purple gloss ; the hind head shades gradu- 

 ally into deep greenish black, forming a dark nuchal 

 stripe joining with the grey plumage of the upper parts ; 

 the fore part of the neck, breast, and belly are white, that 

 colour running up in a narrow lateral stripe between the 

 umber-brown throat and dark nape ; on the belly and sides 

 the feathers are minutely freckled with grey ; the vent and 

 upper tail-covers black ; the lateral covers edged with 

 white. On the upper surface the lower part of the neck, 

 back, and part of the scapulars are marked with zigzag 

 bars of black and yellowish- white, giving a grey tone to 

 the whole 



Also called Long-neck 



