38 EGGS OF BRITISH P.IRDS. 



THE PINTAIL. 

 (Anas acuta.)* 



Plate 13, Fig. 3. 



The Pintail is best known as a winter visitor to the British 

 Islands, but there can be scarcely any doubt that a few remain 

 to breed. It is a circumpolar bird, breeding in great numbers 

 throughout the Arctic Kegions as far north as lat. 70°. South of 

 lat. 60° it breeds much more sparingly, but its eggs are occasionally 

 taken in North Germany, Russia, and Siberia, as far south as lat. 

 50°, and, it is said, in the Caucasus. It migrates both along the 

 coasts and the great river valleys to Persia, India, and Ceylon. On 

 the American continent it breeds in the same latitudes as in the 

 Old World, and is found in winter throughout the Southern 

 States, Mexico, and Central America. 



The nests of the Pintail found by me in the Petchora Valley 

 were placed in the grass among the shrubs in dry places, 

 generally at some distance from the water ; they were deep, 

 and well lined with dead grass and sedge, and, when the full 

 clutch was laid, contained plenty of down. I took the first 

 eggs on the 5th of June. In Germany, where a few Pintails 

 remain to breed, eggs may be found early in May. Seven to 

 nine, or sometimes ten, is the full number, but where the first 

 eggs are taken, the second clutch only contains five or six eggs. 

 They are pale, huffish-green in colour, and vary in length from 

 225 to 20 inches, and in breadth from 1*6 to 1'5'inch. It is 

 impossible to distinguish them from eggs of the Long -tailed 

 Duck, or from small and exceptionally green eggs of the 

 Mallard. 



THE WIGEON. 

 [Anas pcnelope.)^ 



Plate 13, Fig. 4. 



The Wigeon is one of the best known and most plentiful of 

 the Ducks that regularly visit the British Islands in winter. It 

 leaves for the north in April, but a few remain behind to breed, 



* Dafila acuta— Saunders, Manual, p. 417 ; Sharpe, Handb., IP, p. 287. 

 f Mareca penelope — Saunders, Manual, p. 425; Sharpe, Handb., IP, p. 277. 



